Algae biofuel gets big boost from Exxon

Research efforts to develop biofuels from algae got a big shot in the arm with the recent announcement that powerhouse Exxon Mobile made a $600M investment in Synthetic Genomics Inc.

The basics of producing oil from algae is fairly well known.  Algae stores energy for its metabolic processes in the form of fatty lipids (or oil) that is extracted and refined into fuel.

The joint development program will last five or six years and involve building a new research facility in San Diego, California.  Exxon Mobile would then invest "billions of dollars" more into developing a large scale commercial manufacturing capability. 

"As far as products to expect from this program, our intent is to make hydrocarbons that look a lot like today's transportation fuels," (Vice president of research and development at Exxon Mobil Research and Engineering, Emil) Jacobs said. "We want to produce hydrocarbons that look like today's refinery products, that can go into a refinery to be processed along with other petroleum streams and then used in the transportation fleet or even jet fuel. And we think we've got a good chance of doing that."

"A couple years ago, the petroleum institute said there's only a couple of years left for oil, and now they're really finally acting on that," said Riggs Eckelberry, president and CEO of OriginOil Inc. "Algae is the feedstock to overtake petroleum. It's the real alternative to petroleum." (Link)

The value of the Exxon investment shouldn't be underestimated.  After a review of multiple renewable energy schemes, they've chosen to make algae their first priority.