PetroAlgae is making fuel and proteins out of lemna (duckweed) in Fellsmere, and is nearing completion of a vertically integrated, scaleable, licensable 5-6,000 gallon per acre microcrop production system. A first master licensee has been announced for China, Taiwan and part of Japan. More on petroalgae at biofuelsdigest.com.

Sapphire Energy said the pace of algae commercialization is increasing and that it will reach commercial scale by 2011, and producing 1 Mgy of diesel and jet fuel from algae that year, double its previous estimate.

Solazyme is selling fuel to the US Navy and the US Air Force – nearly 50,000 gallons in total at a reported cost of $32 per gallon. Life Cycle Associates found that Soladiesel’s full lifecycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are 85 to 93 percent lower than standard petroleum based ultra-low sulfur diesel (ULSD). More on Solazyme at biofuelsdigest.com.

Synthetic Genomics signed a $600 million R&D deal with ExxonMobil. Half the proceeds will go to SG based on a staged-gate release of funds for meeting undisclosed milestones. More on Synthetic Genomics at biofuelsdigest.com.

BP has signed an R&D partnership with Martek, the leading developer of algae for nutraceutical markets. More on BP at biofuelsdigest.com.

Algenol has signed a $70 million partnership with Dow Chemical for its algae-to-ethanol process, and will establish a project site in Texas at a Dow location. More on Algenol at biofuelsdigest.com.

Solix has opened a pilot-scale plant in Durango, Colorado, partly financed by the Southern Ute Indian Tribe. More on Solix at biofuelsdigest.com.

via 50 Hottest Companies in Bioenergy: Special Voter’s Report on Algae – company updates – Biofuels DIgest : Biofuels Digest – biofuels, biodiesel, ethanol, algae, jatropha, green gasoline, green diesel, and biocrude daily news.

The Sapphire approach to finding the right “bunny” – amidst tens of thousands of microalgal species, and potentially an infinite number of strains: an industrial biotech approach to R&D: equal parts of discipline, throughput, and sense of adventure.

via Sapphire Energy: the making of algae that reproduce strong, last long – Biofuels DIgest : Biofuels Digest – biofuels, biodiesel, ethanol, algae, jatropha, green gasoline, green diesel, and biocrude daily news.