Algae-based Biofuel Company Grows From Federal Support

In the United States, California-based Sapphire Energy, Inc. has announced that it has paid off the entire $54.5 million loan administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to build an algae-to-crude oil demonstration plant which is now fully operational and producing renewable crude oil on a continuous basis.

Sapphire Energy has set up its demo facility, known as the Green Crude Farm, in partnership with the USDA and the U.S. Department of Energy, and is now moving to scale up the technology. The company's success through the USDA's investment has advanced the use of algae as a feedstock to produce crude oil and as a viable new crop to produce homegrown energy while creating valuable rural economies.

Sapphire's biofuels are made from photosynthetic microorganisms (algae and cyanobacteria) that utilize only sunlight and carbon dioxide and do not compete with food crops in terms of land resources. The high yield per acre of up to 5,000 gallons of renewable oil per year and minimal environmental impact of algae biofuels make them very viable and attractive.

Sapphire Energy intends to produce 100 barrels of crude oil per day in 2015, reaching commercial-scale production in 2018.