Company Name Aquatic Energy	Company Web Site http://www.aquaticenergy.com/	Headquarters Lake Charles, LA
Latest News No current news.
Funding No specific funding information.
Technology Aquatic Energy is producing algae in two small ponds. Each of the ponds are about 100 feet long and 15 feet wide. The operation produces 15-20,000 gallons of algae per day. The algae double every day. The water is then separated from the oil in the algae. It is a much higher oil content than other biofuel feed stocks.
Other Info Aquatic Energy began looking beyond traditional biodiesel sources, such as soybean and palm oils. Our research led us to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's (NREL) report on the feasibility of algal oil as a viable fuel source. The report from NREL's Aquatic Species Program (ASP), published in 1996, concluded that algae is among the best and most productive feedstocks available in the biofuel industry. However, in the late 90's, crude oil was still too inexpensive for algal oil to be competitive in the market. It was decided that the price of conventional oil must exceed $59/barrel in order for algal oil to be feasible, which in the mid-90s seemed an unreachable price-floor standard. Recently, as the global economy changed, so has the raw cost of crude oil, launching it far beyond algae oil's base competitive price. With this industry change, AE's focus became the commercialization of the research begun by NREL. Our goal is to develop facilities globally that will maximize the production potential of micro algae. Near commercialization in Louisiana, we have presently achieved the following milestones: Domestication of our proprietary strain of algae with continuous outdoor growth for a period of one year * A "Process Patent" was filed covering our growth and harvesting techniques * Constructed and operated a two-acre pilot site, which achieved and sustained the required growth and lipid results necessary for profitable production * Near developmental completion of a 250-hectare commercialized algal farm and facility, modeled after our two-acre pilot site * Obtained the internationally renowned phycologist, Dr. Ravikumar, former head phycology at the world's largest integrated aquaculture project * Established a partnership with a local land owner for site construction * Signed a purchasing agreement with JatroDiesel, a biodiesel processing company, which ensures the sale of all our produced oil * Secured a development agreement for the construction of a $30 million facility in Southeast Asia, pending the completion of the 250-hectare US Gulf Coast site