solazyme

Biofuel-powered commercial aviation finally takes off

The era of American commercial airliners flying on biofuels is here.

A Continental Airlines Boeing 737-800 from Houston yesterday became the first U.S. plane to fly passengers while using an algae-based biofuel. According to an article originally published in the Houston Chronicle, the Continental flight carried 154 customers while using the fuel blend, which was developed by South San Francisco, Calif.-based Solazyme.

"United Continental Holdings, the airline's parent company, estimated that the biofuel blend on the Chicago-bound flight reduced carbon dioxide emissions by an amount equal to what would come from the exhaust of a car … Read more

Solazyme cruises in biofuels, green chemicals IPO

Solazyme raised $227 million in its public stock offering today, netting more than anticipated from the biofuels and renewable chemicals company's public launch.

Trading of the San Francisco-based company's stock (SZYM) started today on the NASDAQ higher than the planned $18 opening price and closed the day at over $20, or 15 percent higher, to bring in $227 million.

The IPO is a bright spot for the biofuel and renewable chemical area, where many companies have been founded over the past 10 years but only a handful have successfully gone public.

Solazyme uses algae to make liquid fuels, … Read more

Algae-oil maker Solazyme files to go public

A correction was made on March 14 with a corrected figure for Solazyme's revenue last year.

Algae-oil maker Solazyme picked a time of rising oil prices of more than $100 a barrel to signal it plans to go public on the stock market.

The San Francisco-based company on Friday filed its S-1 document to the Securities and Exchange Commission, outlining its plan to raise up to $100 million through an initial public offering. Solazyme grows algae with sugars in closed fermentation tanks to create oils, which can be used for liquid fuel and for chemicals, foods, or personal care … Read more

U.S. Navy buys 20,000 gallons of algae fuel

Algae biofuel producer Solazyme announced Wednesday it's delivered 20,000 gallons of algae-based shipboard fuel to the U.S. Navy.

Solazyme's Soladiesel Renewable Naval Distillate fuel will go toward the Navy's ambitious goal of getting 50 percent of its energy from renewable resources by 2020.

But algae fuel is not just useful for the Navy's ships.

This past summer Solazyme also delivered 1,500 gallons of algae-based jet fuel to the U.S. Navy for testing. If testing goes well, Solazyme's algae-based advance biofuel could be powering some of our nation's military aircraft.

The … Read more

Solazyme raises $52 million for algae fuel

Even as investor interest in biofuels has cooled substantially from a few years ago, Solazyme has emerged as one of the few contenders for bringing algae-based fuel to market.

The company on Monday announced that it has raised $52 million in a series D round, which brings investment bank Morgan Stanley into its list of investors. In addition to venture-capital companies, the venture arms of Chevron and Japanese food ingredient manufacturer San-Ei Gen also participated.

Solazyme stands out from the dozens of companies seeking to make fuels and food products from algae in its technical approach and, to some degree, … Read more

Solazyme targets algae fuel in three years

In the race to make sustainably grown biofuels, algae is the great green hope.

Growing algae is not hard. But making enough to be competitive with fossil fuel prices has eluded the many companies and researchers betting on algae as a biofuel feedstock.

Solazyme CEO Jonathan Wolfson on Wednesday said that his company will be able to produce millions of gallons of algae-derived biodiesel in three years.

The reason Solazyme is on a faster track than many others is because it is taking a very different technology path, he said in a conference call with biofuels writers. The biotechnology company … Read more

Solazyme's algae diesel ready to hit the road

Tiny algae is ready for some long-haul trucking.

Solazyme, a South San Francisco, Calif.-based company that creates synthetic biological products, said Wednesday that its microalgae-derived fuel is the first renewable diesel to meet the American Society for Testing and Materials' D-975 specifications.

The fuel is chemically the same as petroleum-derived diesel, Solazyme said, so it can be distributed using the existing infrastructure. But it burns cleaner than petroleum-derived diesel, with fewer particulates and sulfur levels.

A 100 percent blend of Solazyme's diesel has been road-tested in a 2005 Jeep Liberty with a diesel engine, the company said in … Read more