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Out of Europe comes news of in impressive partnership that aims to use algae to replace petroleum for many of our chemical and fuel products.
Paris-based Fermentalg, a biotech firm commercializing algae as a source of hydrocarbons, announced a collaborative program known as Trans’Alg that will draw on expertise and investment from several leading companies to impact the green chemistry industry.
The program aims to engineer algae as a source of low-price replacement raw materials for petroleum products. These products can include bioplastics, plasticisers, polyol plasticisers, industrial lubricants, waterproof membranes, thermal insulation foams, fuels and more.
Including Fermentalg, the partners in Trans’Alg include:Arkema, Condat (industrial lubricants), Pierre Guérin (industrial fermentation equipment), Soprema and the Union Coopératives Viticoles d’Aquitaine and partner laboratories, the CEA (LCPV), the CNRS (Bioteam ICPEES) and the ITERG.
Fermentalq has already entered the nutrition markets, and with these partners a number of other bio-based products are not far behind.
The press release has more details (PDF).
ABO members can log in at the top of this page to access Fermentalg’s presentation on mixotrophic fermentation at the 2014 Algae Biomass Summit in San Diego.
