Category: Blog

Yesterday, in a partly sunny Seattle, Matrix Genetics announced it would be spinning off from Targeted Growth to focus on the production of renewable fuels and specialty chemicals from cyanobacteria (blue-green algae). An investment from Avista Development will allow the company to expand laboratories and hire new staff as it sets out on its own.

Matrix’s focus on cyanobacteria comes from the organisms’ simple and well-understood genome. A well-developed set of tools makes modifications to these genomes possible, and researchers at Matrix are most interested in changes that can make cyanobacteria fat with lipids. Cells that can be made to develop these “beer bellies” can be a much more productive source of fuels and other petrochemical replacements. The incredible potential of the increased oil production can be seen in this picture of cyanobacteria that is producing lipids (triglyceride) with, and without, the enhancements.

Matrix made its announcement during a tour of its laboratories with representatives from the offices of local officials and media. The event was part of the Summer of Algae II, the Algae Biomass Organization’s campaign to showcase the promise of algae across the nation.  Several local newspapers and radio stations featured stories with more information about the announcement and Matrix Genetics’ technology:

• Seattle Times
• KUOW
• Xconomy
• GeekWire
• Bloomberg

The Summer of Algae II will continue. Algenol is rescheduling an event in Florida that had to be postponed with the arrival of Hurricane Isaac, and several other companies are planning more open houses in the fall. It’s all leading up to the Algae Biomass Summit in Denver, September 24-27. With all the exciting development of the past year we are expecting a record-sized crowd.

We’ll keep you updated!

The commercialization of algae biomass for fuel production took a giant leap today with the announcement that Sapphire Energy’s Green Crude Farm, the world’s first commercial demonstration algae-to-energy facility, is now operational in Las Cruces, New Mexico.

The first phase of Sapphire’s large outdoor production facility, which includes harvesting and extraction equipment along with the racetrack-shaped ponds, has produced 21 million gallons of algae biomass since June. Algae biomass contains oils, proteins and carbohydrates that can be processed into fuels, feed, fertilizers and many other products.

The enormous production potential of this first phase of the project is only the beginning. By the end of 2014, the facility will produce 100 barrels of Green Crude per day.

Sapphire’s announcement notes that the demonstration is on-budget and that construction and production milestones are being met on schedule. In the coming weeks operators will be switching the strain of algae in the ponds to one that is better suited to growing in winter months. The switch will show that year-long growth cycles can keep a steady flow of biomass supplied to the market.

Successful demonstrations like this are going to play a key role in deploying algae technologies into the marketplace. Today’s announcement is one more example that when it comes to making fuels from algae, a new industry can provide the kind of  jobs and domestically produced fuels we need. Sapphire’s press release about this one project hints at some of the potential:

• 634 full-time equivalent employees were hired throughout the entire construction phase
• $16 million was directly invested with local New Mexico contractors

Most industry insiders believe that once commercial facilities like this come online, it will only be a matter of time before they become the model for hundreds of algae farms and fuel production facilities across the United States.

With Sapphire Energy’s impressive production schedule, and so many other companies aggressively pursuing their own algae technologies, the day we are all putting algae-derived fuels into our tanks is approaching very quickly.

The first event of the Summer of Algae II campaign was Monday in the country’s most dense center of algae research and commercialization: San Diego.

The San Diego Daily Transcript describes just how far along the industry is in California and more about the Summer of Algae campaign. Participants at Monday’s event hailed from Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego, the San Diego Center for Algae Biotechnology (SD-CAB), Synthetic Genomics, General Atomics, Cellana and Sapphire Energy.

Jason Anderson, Vice President of CleanTECH San Diego, a non-profit that is working to position the region as a global leader in the cleantech economy, was also one of the speakers at the San Diego tour. In a blog post yesterday he adds some concrete examples of how regional collaborations can foster an industry as well as the local economy:

“Through a close collaboration, we have designed programs that not only support the biofuels and industrial biotech industry today, but will continue to evolve to meet industry needs as it matures.  To date, we have trained more than 300 workers and over one-third of those trained are now employed in the industry.  Just as the region’s research institutions and private sector companies continue to gain momentum and investment for their advances, EDGE’s cutting edge curricula and training programs are being considered for adoption by institutions all over the world.”

The example of San Diego shows how regional initiatives can help communities benefit from new and growing industries. The challenges that algae can address around fuel supplies, food production and water usage make it particularly attractive. Other states are already reacting to the impressive milestones that algae companies are achieving on a regular basis. Ohio and Arizona easily passed bi-partisan legislation that puts algae on equal footing with other agriculture, for example, and others are likely to follow.

The Colorado Center for Biorefining and Biofuels (C2B2) and Solix BioSystems had their own Summer of Algae event at the Colorado School of Mines yesterday. Researchers and company executives met with local and federal official to show the latest algae research activity within Colorado, discuss commercialization prospects, and answer questions regarding the emerging biofuels industry in the state.

Research scientists and company officials discussed the role their technology can play in creating jobs and economic growth in Colorado as well as the larger role the technology can play in addressing global fuel and food issues.

Several Denver-area news stations aired segments about the tour. Check out the story on CBS Channel 4:

The Summer of Algae continues in Colorado when the industry convenes for the Algae Biomass Summit in Denver, September 24-27. Hope to see you there!

The Summer of Algae II is off to a great start. The day after a kickoff event in San Diego it was time for St. Cloud State and algae start-up Algaedyne to partner in Minnesota for an event that showed off that state’s latest research and algae commercialization projects.

Local and national elected officials were on hand to learn how research and business-academic partnerships are coming together to find the best ways algae can be a sustainable source of fuels, food, feed, and chemicals.

The St. Cloud Times has a story, with video about the event.

The Post Bulletin in Rochester, MN details more about Algaedyne’s technology.

Also check out NBC affiliate KARE 11’s great story with video of the facilities.

The Summer of Algae II is a campaign to raise awareness about algae’s potential and the industry’s progress toward commercialization. You can read more about the campaign in this press release, and about future events in this blog post.