Bill Gates invests in algae fuel

Bill Gates' investment firm is funding Sapphire Energy, a company that intends to make auto fuel from algae.

Sapphire Energy said Wednesday that a series B round will bring the total amount it has raised to more than $100 million. Investors include Gates' investment firm Cascade Investment, as well as Arch Venture Partners, Wellcome Trust, and Venrock.

The lowly algae is the renewable fuel industry's great green hope. Because algae is rich in oil and can grow in a wide range of conditions, many companies are betting that it can create fuels or other chemicals cheaper than existing feedstocks.

So far, no company has made cost-competitive fuel at large scale from algae. But a handful predict they will within three years.

San Diego-based Sapphire Energy said last year that it has successfully made its product, Green Crude, which yielded 91 octane gasoline from algae.

Its process can use algae to yield a range of fuels, including the chemical equivalents of gasoline, jet fuel, and diesel. It has a test facility in New Mexico.

The series B equity will help the company build out its operations with a target of producing 10,000 barrels per day of fuel from algae and help it operate at commercial scale within three to five years.

Sapphire Energy has not provided many details publicly about its technology except to say that it doesn't need fresh water to grow the algae and that it has assembled a team with expertise in cell biology, plant genomics, and algal production.

The stake in Sapphire Energy is not the first foray into alternative fuels for Gates' Cascade Investments. The firm invested in Pacific Ethanol, but later sold its shares as the company's stock price fell.

[roadbase]

This sounds like the way to go, what do the algae eat?

[mlamonica]

Trying to post this comment again: algae eat carbon dioxide and sunlight. That's why a number of algae fuel companies are talking to utilities to locate algae farms near power plants where they can consume CO2.

[Joe Real]

These algae would eat sewage water (or recycled algal parts from previous harvest), carbon dioxide while bathing in the sun bubbling away oxygen. They're genetically engineered to produce green gasoline, but are true definition functioning algae, much unlike Solazyme's food sucking algae which must be fed with sugar and other expensive nutrients.

[pugster]

They can also get CO2 from coal fire power plants. Oilgae (Oil from Algae) has alot of potential, but nobody figured out how to mass produce this stuff yet.

[Magallanes]

Don't be fooled, soylent green is human!.

[Manhattan2]

How can this compete with the millions of years of plankton, and algae that collected in the first place to create the Oil we are living off of. Eating algae, now that makes sense. Email us at [e-mail] to learn more.
Direct solar capture to PV using our methods will be the solution everyone is searching for. Tell Bill Gates he is barking up the wrong tree (or in this case algae bloom).

[rapier1]

How can it compete? Well, if it can get the time scale of algae to oil down by few orders of magnitude it sounds like a win.

[JimMcDosh]

Wow, Gates is one smart dude who doesnt usually throw his money away therefore, there is clearly something to this new fuel source. Me? I welcome anything that will ease my pain at the freaking pump! I dont understand why now oil is at $96 a barrel yet at the pump it is still being sold at $147 a barrel prices. Anyone else getting tired of the PROFIT HO oil companies?

Jiff
www.anonymize.us.tc

[NewEnergyWorks]

Hey Jim,

The prices of oil in the commodities markets are prices on futures, or prices that suppliers will be able to purchase at next month.

This algal fuel is both an efficient and convenient way to store solar energy- photosynthesis to capture CO2 from the atmosphere, sewage for nutrients, and a little chemical processing to make it versatile and useful! Hopefully, we should see some big advances in the way in which these fuels are actually being used, making the first serious attempt at getting rid of our dependency on Middle-East oil. America is supposed to be a technological leader, and with the legacy of Bush, we have languished. Hopefully coal will be next to be gotten rid of. Here's to a brighter future!

[trooperbill]

...but soylent green is made of people!

lol

[mattmatt757]

Its about time someone finally looke into this. CNN only did a report on a college teacher doing studies on this 6 months ago!

[Ecoversity]

Algae-culture holds great promise- for food production as well as clean oil. Among it's many advantages, algae can be grown in closed systems without requiring huge amounts of water (like corn does) and fertilizers (CO2 is the best fertilizer for algae). It can be harvested every few days rather than once or twice a year. And the process can be small-scale to supply small community needs, as well as large scale, for example in conjunction with power plants (sequestering CO2). More info on these aspects of algaeculture, along with videos and links, at http://ecoversity.org /case_focus/algaefuel/algaefuel.html

[dswanson2609]

Bill Gates has made some extremely poor moves with his money, showing complete ignorance with what is happening with the economy. This is NOT one of them. While Bill himself probably still does not get it, some if his investors clearly do. I have studied our energy situation for about 5 years and believe that algae is the only hope for moving to a renewable economy with out a VERY difficult transition. While my calculations show that photosynthetic processes will not in the immediate future be as efficient as some other solar capture methods, the fact that they can produce energy that is chemically stored and feedstock for our current oil dependent economy is a huge winner. My calculations are that the pessimistic number for algae production is 1740 gal/acre/annum. This is calculated with conversion efficiencies that are currently being obtained with agriculture. Some guys that know way more about this than I do think that 10's of thousands of gallons per acre are possible. The 100k numbers are just not in the cards as they are at/over the total energy that is hitting the pond/PBR.

[LGem]

Hi everyone,

My name is Sander Hazewinkel and currently my company is one of the largest "real" producers of marine algae in the world. We use state of the art closed systems that will outperform all the installations that I have seen on this website and that belong to the so called frontrunners. One of the things that really disturbs me,when I hear all these "pseudo" scientists claim enormous projected yields, is the energy cost that is involved in growing algae. I dare to state that it is impossible to gain a posititive energy balance with the production of algae. It's not the apparatus (toy) that you use to grow the algae that holds the solution to a positive energy balance. The problem is that the algae itself is not so efficient as some people want us to believe. I know from hands-on experience on a commercial production scale! But I also know and understand the math behind the problem. One of the people that describes a part of the math very much spot on is Krassen Dimitrov (google will find his article). If you are able to read some Dutch (google translate might be helpfull) you can read a presentation that I gave a couple of months ago for an organisation that is doing research on energy options for Afrika. www.fact-fuels.org/media_en/Presentation_Sander_Hazewinkel

It's not that i want to temper the enthusiasm for Algae, on the contrary! Algae are super as a nutrition (omega-3-fatty-acids, over 50% proteins, anti-oxidants and so on and on) all very important components for life and costing much more energy to produce otherwise than with algae.

So algae still hold a strong key to a more sustainable futere, but unfortunately not to a primairy source for energy!

I dare anyone to come-up with a complete lifecycle-anlysis on the production of algae that proves my point to be wrong and I dare to bet that nobody will come up with the whole (energy)cost figure because it is more sexy to talk about energyyields in stead of energy costs!

With kind regards,

Sander Hazewinkel

[Lydia11]

So, is this going to help us out with carbon emissions as well, in the sense that the algae consumes it? Also, is Sapphire Energy selling shares to average people?

[Burnelli Support Group]

dswanson says: 100K numbers are just not in the cards as they are over the total energy that is hitting the pond/PBR.

Let's forget about the pond. The pond is old school. The pond has been tried and has failed. The pond collects unwanted algae strains. The pond is a terrible idea and unsustainable.

Let's think outside the pond for a minute. What if you could contain all your algae in a closed loop system that would hang and flow through plastic rows that would increase your yeild per acre by 10 or more with very little water usage and no risk of other algae species polluting your chosen strain? Then and only then would you be able to create an environment where you "could" produce 100,000 gallons of biofuel per acre per year.

Let's stop limiting the possibilities and start looking at the research that is happening at this moment.

Check out this company and their videos and listen to their scientist/CEO for reasons why we "CAN" do this and do it in the very near future. Let's start supporting companies like this and move forward a,s,a,p to secure our future and release us from the death grip of foreign oil.

Company:Valcent, El Paso, TX - Watch video on page
http://www.valcent.net/s/Ecotech.asp?ReportID=182039

CNN Report on Valcent:UTube Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-GpX3oJFTU&feature=related

Local Texas TV Report:UTube Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYURCN7o-Mk&feature=related

Contacts: [e-mail]
Valcent Products Inc.

[Burnelli Support Group]

This move of Bill Gates is great except for one huge concern. How will the genetically altered algae be accepted by the general public. Myself? I don't have a problem with it at all. The trouble is, this has been a show stopper for other genetically altered substances such as corn and soy. Most people don't understand that we've been genetically altering our plants and animals for centuries.

Short legged sheep were genetically chosen so they wouldn't jump out of their enclosures. Long horned cattle were genetically altered to shorten horns for cattleman's safety and for a more gentle animal. All this was done through selective breeding. Genetically altering of today differs very little from selective breeding only in the time it takes to make the changes.

Because people don't understand it they fear it. What if we make a genetically altered algae that takes over the world?! OMG!!! We would all be knee deep in green slime. It ain't gonna happen but try telling that to a person who doesn't understand the first thing about the process or has a religious belief that "if God meant it to be that way He would have made it that way."

I hope Bill and Sapphire do well. It will only benefit the world. Don't count on it being an easy sell for the majority or at least for the really "loud" voices that will protest the genetics of the plan.

Good luck Bill.

Check out Valcent of El Paso, Texas for a more natural and locally choses algae source.

[LGem]

Hi everyone,

My name is Sander Hazewinkel and currently my company is one of the largest "real" producers of marine algae in the world. We use state of the art closed systems that will outperform all the installations that I have seen on this website and that belong to the so called frontrunners. One of the things that really disturbs me,when I hear all these "pseudo" scientists claim enormous projected yields, is the energy cost that is involved in growing algae. I dare to state that it is impossible to gain a posititive energy balance with the production of algae. It's not the apparatus (toy) that you use to grow the algae that holds the solution to a positive energy balance. The problem is that the algae itself is not so efficient as some people want us to believe. I know from hands-on experience on a commercial production scale! But I also know and understand the math behind the problem. One of the people that describes a part of the math very much spot on is Krassen Dimitrov (google will find his article). If you are able to read some Dutch (google translate might be helpfull) you can read a presentation that I gave a couple of months ago for an organisation that is doing research on energy options for Afrika. www.fact-fuels.org/media_en/Presentation_Sander_Hazewinkel

It's not that i want to temper the enthusiasm for Algae, on the contrary! Algae are super as a nutrition (omega-3-fatty-acids, over 50% proteins, anti-oxidants and so on and on) all very important components for life and costing much more energy to produce otherwise than with algae.

So algae still hold a strong key to a more sustainable futere, but unfortunately not to a primairy source for energy!

I dare anyone to come-up with a complete lifecycle-anlysis on the production of algae that proves my point to be wrong and I dare to bet that nobody will come up with the whole (energy)cost figure because it is more sexy to talk about energyyields in stead of energy costs!

With kind regards,

Sander Hazewinkel