Company Name Aquaflow	Company Web Site http://www.aquaflowgroup.com/	Headquarters New Zealand
Latest News November 16, 2009 Marlborough bio-energy entrepreneur Aquaflow Bionomic Corporation, has teamed up with a Chinese company Greenleaf Environmental of Sichuan. The companies are investigating sites in China for the Blenheim-based company's patented approach to growing wild algae in sewage ponds to clean up the waste, and refine the algae for biodiesel. "This is a significant breakthrough as Sichuan is a leading clean technology centre and we believe Aquaflow is the first company of its kind to move into the region," said Aquaflow director, Nick Gerritsen. Greenleaf's engineering director William Gormley said the technology could, potentially clean up contaminated water, and produce "green" crude oil. Mr Gerritsen said the level of interest was "mind boggling". The company will sort through opportunities to set up the first series of pilot plants offshore. Aquaflow started in 2005 with plans to produce biodiesel from algae. The use of wild or naturally-occurring algae and its low cost made Aquaflow's process more economically viable than rival systems, Mr Gerritsen said. The Aquaflow system could be added to existing sewage works and water treatment centres without the expense of building an intensive "bio-reactor" to grow the algae. Continuously harvesting wild algae growing in wastewater would not compete with food crops or agricultural land. The company said last year it was offering up to 60 million new shares at 50c each, in a bid to raise at least $20m. It has also talked of starting a fundraising programme in Australia for the first of up to 16 pilot plants. -------------------- October 29, 2008 Aquaflow Bionomic today announced a partnership with UOP, a subsidiary of Honeywell, to process algae harvested from open-air sludge ponds and waste streams into high-quality fuels. In an emailed release, the companies say they will also look into sequestering carbon dioxide in ponds to boost algae output. This is a big partner for the young, fast-moving New Zealand-based startup. UOP has years of experience in the petro-chemcial refining business but has been moving into biofuels in earnest recently. UOP launched its Renewable Energy & Chemicals business in 2006. Since then, UOP formed a joint venture with bio-oil veteran Ensyn, created the Sustainable Aviation Fuel Users Group with Boeing and recently picked up $1.5 million from the DOE to work on pyrolysis oil development from biomass. Founded in 2005, Aquaflow raised funding through a public offering on the New Zealand Exchange at the end of the 2006 and in 2007 built its first prototype plant. Unlike many other startups working in controlled vats, Aquaflow says its free-range algae farming will save money on facilities. Just last month Aquaflow said that it had produced its first samples of "green crude," which the company says can be dropped into existing refineries to be made into fuel. (That's where UOP comes in.) Besides tapping UOP's refining experience, Aquaflow plans to work with the industrial giant to study the feasibility of sequestering carbon dioxide from a refinery or power plant in an algae pond, hopefully boosting the algal output. Hawaiian HR BioPetroleum signed an agreement with a local utility to test this idea; under the agreement HR plans to build an algae-to-fuel plant next to a power plant and use the emissions to make the tiny plants grow. ----------------------- October 15, 2008 TESTS on producing biofuels from algae by a South Island company will be watched with interest in Gisborne. The Marlborough company is looking at producing biofuels using the District Council's oxidation ponds, Gisborne's wastewater management committee was told by project manager Peter McConnell. The company, Aquaflow Bionomic Corporation, has raised $5 million after demonstrating its "concept biodiesel" produced from algae at the sewage ponds. Founder Barry Leay has been featured in a media statement, with a photograph of him holding a glass bottle containing crude biofuel he says was made at the company's new production facility at Nelson. He is coy about the cost of the product against petrol, saying it is only half the story. But he has also been quoted as saying that the harvesting process also includes an extraordinarily beneficial by-product of potentially releasing a clean water resource of millions of litres of clean water that can be used for irrigation, industrial washing, cooling and so on. The water is so clean that Mr Leay says he has drunk a sample of it in front of fellow board members without any adverse reaction. On the strength of the breakthrough, Aquaflow is seeking another $20 million from investors. Mr McConnell said the company was playing its cards close to its chest, as there was potential to make a lot of money if the process could be commercialised. -------------------- October 2008 New Zealand-based Aquaflow Bionomic Corp. announced production of its first samples of green-crude from wild and natural algae. The company said green-crude differs slightly from first-generation biofuels because it's made solely from photosynthetic microorganisms (algae), which absorb sunlight, carbon dioxide, and nutrients found in waste streams or agricultural runoff. Aquaflow Chairman Barry Leay said the outputs from the samples are showing similar or greater potential compared with existing petroleum products. ------------------------------ October 1, 2008 New Zealand-based Aquaflow Bionomic Corporation announced today that its world-leading patented process has initially shown it can turn discharge streams laden with nutrients and green micro-algae into acceptable drinking water. The company has previously been known for its world-leading technology to convert wild algae from sewerage ponds into next generation fuel. "We're using the same system to produce both fuel and clean water to address the two most significant global issues of energy and water security," says Aquaflow chairman, Barrie Leay. Leay says that it has been no great surprise to learn that in some parts of the world the water side of the Aquaflow system is just as big as the fuel side. "It looks as though we have a dual-edged opportunity here which is very significant and almost overwhelming in its scale," he comments. Aquaflow's pilot harvesting plant, based at the Marlborough oxidation ponds in New Zealand's South Island, has the potential to release 5.3 billion litres of water back to the region for re-use as irrigation, industrial washing, cooling or for further high value applications. "Based upon the remediation feature of the Aquaflow system we've received significant interest from major companies and governments globally. The extent of eutrification (excessive plant growth which kills animal life by oxygen deprivation) of waterways globally is staggering,"
Funding $5 million recently from undisclosed sources, following $3 million from Pure Power Asia in 2007.
Technology Aquaflow Bionomic Corporation has set itself the objective to be the first company in the world to economically produce biofuel from wild algae harvested from open-air environments, to market it, and meet the challenge of increasing demand. ABC harvests algae directly from the settling ponds of standard Effluent Management (EM) Systems and other nutrient-rich water. The process can be used in many industries that produce a waste stream, including the transport, dairy, meat and paper industries. The two-step process firstly optimises the ponds'productive capacity, and secondly, determines the most efficient and economic way of harvesting the pond algae. Algae are provided with full opportunity to exploit the nutrients available in the settling ponds, thereby cleaning up the water. The algae are then harvested to remove the remaining contaminant. A last stage of bio-remediation, still in development, will ensure that the water discharge from the process exceeds acceptable quality standards. The water and sludge treatment process is an elegant clean-up and management service to councils responsible for sewage treatment systems while also generating a low-cost feedstock for conversion to fuel. The result is an algae-based extract that will ultimately be converted to an alternative fuel source. ABC are focussed on advanced technologies for biofuel production other than traditional methods producing methyl ester biodiesel. The Marlborough sewage pond details are: * 60ha of open oxidation ponds. * Serving a population of 27,000 with a mix of municipal and agro-industrial waste, including a significant wine industry. * Annual water flow of 5 billion litres.
Other Info What does Aquaflow do? Aquaflow is a young company, having been incorporated in October 2005. Its objective is to make biofuel from wild algae. Where is Aquaflow based? The company's office is in Nelson, New Zealand. Aquaflow is conducting ongoing laboratory and field development work in the Marlborough region of New Zealand's South Island. Who are the directors? The directors of the company are Vicki Buck, Nicholas Gerritsen, Barrie Leay and David Milroy. What is Aquaflow's share trading history? Aquaflow raised initial capital in the New Zealand market without a prospectus and was therefore limited to investors who were close business associates and relatives of the directors. Aquaflow issued its first Prospectus and Investments Statement to raise money from the public in December 2006. This offer closed on 31 March 2007. The subscription price for shares at that time was $0.50 per share. Since then, Aquaflow's shares have been subject to a 1 for 3.122 split. This means that each share that existed immediately before the share split, is now 3.122 shares. This was done to expand Aquaflow's share base which will, in turn, facilitate trading. Currently, Aquaflow has approximately 90 million shares on issue to approximately 90 shareholders. The vast majority of these shareholders are New Zealand investors, but there is also a small but significant contingent of overseas investors, both companies and individuals.