Origin Oil partners with US DoE on conversion of algae into renewable crude
Renewables firm OriginOil plans to co-develop an integrated system with the US Department of Energy's Idaho National Laboratory (INL) for direct conversion of raw algae into a renewable crude oil that can be used by existing petroleum refineries.
"We believe this is a major breakthrough for OriginOil and a major step forward for the algae industry," said Riggs Eckelberry, OriginOil CEO. "We already lead the industry with our chemical-free, low-energy, continuous high-flow harvesting system.
"From there it's a natural step to helping algae growers make a direct crude oil replacement right on site, giving them direct access to the existing world market for transportation fuels, including jet fuel,” he continued.
“That's an instant upgrade from what is now a niche market, to the immediate 86 million barrel per day global crude oil market."
OriginOil's planned Biocrude System will integrate its own harvesting system with state-of-the-art biomass processing technology being developed under the recently-announced research agreement with INL, to convert raw algae into barrels of renewable crude oil, the company said.
This much cleaner replacement for conventional petroleum will be designed to be compatible with conventional petroleum refineries.
Renewable algae crude could also be blended with other biomass sources to improve their performance.
"We are excited to work with OriginOil on its Biocrude System and leverage its algae processing expertise and technology,” said Dr. Deborah T. Newby, project manager at DOE's Idaho National Laboratory (INL).
“Algae is a high energy biomass and can function as a force multiplier to blend in other biomass waste such as from forestry and agriculture into a uniform renewable crude oil substitute,” she continued.
“This may well support the US military's strategic fuels diversification program."
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