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June 18, 2008 (Seattle, WA)
Inventure Chemical has announced that it has entered into a joint venture with Seambiotic Ltd. (based in Tel Aviv, Israel) to construct a pilot commercial biofuel plant in Israel, using algae created from CO2 emissions as feedstock. The plant will utilize high-yield oil-rich algae strains that Seambiotic has developed and grown in its open pond system coupled with Inventure's patent-pending conversion processes to produce ethanol, biodiesel and other value-added chemicals.
"This is a milestone for Inventure, and for the next generation of biofuels," said Mark Tegen, Inventure's chief executive officer and co-founder. "Seambiotic has been extremely successful in its algae-based CO2 sequestering project with Israeli Electric Corporation, which proves the viability of their model. Combining their algae production technology with our algae to biofuel conversion process will close the loop."
"We reviewed many potential processes for converting our algae strains to biofuel," said Prof. Ami Ben-Amotz, chief scientific adviser to Seambiotic. "In numerous tests we've conducted with Inventure at their Seattle plant, we've been consistently pleased with the quality of the biofuel resulting from their process. Inventure's technology will enable us to maximize the biofuel yield from our algae."
"Our joint venture with Inventure will illustrate not only the technological capabilities of our combined processes, but also the validity of the CO2 to algae to biofuel model as a means for coal-fired power generators to meet CO2 reduction mandates," said Amnon Bechar, Seambiotic's chief executive officer. "The biofuel that's created from algae can be used in the power generator's operations, or sold on the open market to create a new revenue stream. Either way, this model can pay for the infrastructure necessary to put in place."
August 21, 2007
A Tacoma startup by the name of Inventure Chemical has raised about $1.5 million to continue development on a chemical process that turns algae into biodiesel and ethanol.
One of the biggest backers of the company is Imperium Renewables, the Seattle biodiesel producer that just opened a massive biodiesel plant in Grays Harbor County last week.
And this isn't the first time that Imperium -- which has filed to raise up to $345 million through an IPO -- has sprinkled investment dollars on new biofuel startups in the Pacific Northwest. It also recently provided a loan to Propel Biofuels, money that the Seattle company is using to set up biodiesel fueling stations in the state.
Imperium has not been shy about experimenting with algae to create biodiesel, especially since its plans to use imported palm oil have been met with criticism from environmentalists. Some believe that cultivating palm oil for energy needs could lead to the destruction of the rain forest.
In addition to the investment in Inventure, Imperium also has a partnership with South San Francisco-based Solazyme, which is attempting to convert algae into biofuels. In its IPO filing earlier this year, Imperium said that it would continue to explore "new or improved feedstock sources, such as jatropha, mustard and algae, in an effort to leverage our multi-feedstock capabilities and further reduce our production costs."
Chris Santella, a spokesman for Inventure, declined to name investors in the most recent round. But a source familiar with the deal confirmed that Imperium pumped money into the startup. Also participating were Cedar Grove Investments, Brighton Jones Wealth Management and undisclosed angel investors, according to VentureWire. A spokesman at Imperium declined to comment.
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Technology
Inventure's patent-pending algae-specific biofuel conversion technology - based on principles of esterification/transesterification - is both proven and adoptable for large-scale production.
* We can process a variety of algae species, ranging from less than 1 micron to 10 microns, and including salt water and fresh water species
* We can generate biodiesel and ethanol from the same algae mass
* Our process generates near the theoretical maximum triglyceride and fatty acid conversion yields to fatty acid methyl or ethyl esters; in other words, the Inventure process generates an extremely high yield to biodiesel and ethanol.
By 2012 the world is projected to have 7,474 coal-fired power plants, pumping out 9 billion tons of CO2 each year as a byproduct of the generation of electric power. Algae-based sequestering has recently emerged as one of the most cost-effective, and potentially even profitable, means of reducing CO2 emissions.
* Certain strains of algae effectively "soak up" CO2 generated by coal-fired power plants, with up to 70% absorption rate
* Algae that's grown in the sequestering process can be converted into bio-diesel and ethanol that can be sold or used to fuel plant
* A win-win-win situation for power plants:
- CO2 reduction mandates can be met through sequestering process
- Cost of adopting CO2 sequestering measures can be quickly recovered through sale of biofuels that are created from algae, making CO2 reduction a break-even enterprise - and potential profit center
* Power plant garners positive publicity by taking a proactive role in CO2 reduction, plus in creation of green fuels
This is not wishful thinking. Five large-scale combustion-fired power plants are in the process of developing such algae-based biofuel production facilities, with capacity of up to 40 million gallons of biodiesel and 60 million gallons of ethanol annually. This biofuel production could generate over $350 million in gross revenue per year (at current market rates).
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