Why You Should Care About Solazyme: It's Algae

Solazyme is not the only bio-engineering company trying to put a dent in the world's energy troubles with biofuel. However, it may be the closest to actually becoming a game-changer when it comes to what we fuel our vehicles with.

Solazyme recently announced that its algal-based biodiesel passed the American Society for Testing and Materials D-975 specification. This doesn't mean much to those of us who don't pick up the ASTM manual for light summer reading, but it actually marks a significant breakthrough for biofuels.

"This means we are the first company in the world to make renewable diesel from a microbial process," Solazyme president and co-founder Harrison Dillon (pictured left beside, co-founder Jonathan Wolfson) told KickingTires. "Meeting the D-975 specification also means that we don't have to go through any regulatory process to get the fuel approved to be sold as biodiesel."

In other words, Solazyme's fuel is ready to go straight into your tank if you own a diesel car, truck or SUV. Unlike ethanol or biodiesel, it is not subject to any blending law, which leads to fuels like E85 and B20.

"You can put it in your diesel vehicle at 100% without watering it down," Dillon said.

The question now is how Solazyme will get its product into fuel tanks. With diesel prices hovering around $4.76 a gallon, truck drivers are getting creamed and clean-diesel passenger vehicles are not catching the public's attention. Relief from renewable biodiesel, however, is still two to three years away. Solazyme has partnered with Chevron to incorporate its fuel into existing infrastructure and hopes to sell it commercially as soon as possible.

"Transportation fuel has to be manufactured at a low-enough cost that it can compete with petroleum,” Dillon said. “Right now it’s a matter of either building or retrofitting the manufacturing plants, which will take time."

That time is on Solazyme's side, considering there’s a trillion-dollar market waiting for its product.

Most heartening about Solazyme's carbon-neutral diesel is that, as Dillon puts it, "We're not food versus fuel. We're food and fuel."

The technology is versatile and can use almost anything for feedstock, including wood chips. Through this process, Solazyme can create other oil-based products — everything from plastics to jet fuel to cooking oil.

Comments

[LM]

This is cool and all, but lets about June car sales...!

[jereg]

I've been following the algae biodiesel industry for awhile and this is promising news. It makes a lot more sense to invest in this technology as a means to energy independence than anything else I've read about. The infrastructure is already in place as well as the market for the product. Most car makers are preparing to release a number of diesel products in the next couple of years.

We need a push by the government (candidates, are you listening) to make this happen.

[aubreya]

drive 60 miles an hour and save 30% on gas yes it really works.

[aubreya]

drive 60 miles per hour and save 30% on gas yes it doed work.

[Kari Lemons]

If this fuel tests out as ASTM 975 then it is not Biodiesel, it is a renewable fuel equal to diesel. ASTM 975 is Diesel fuel not biodiesel.
Biodiesel has its own ASTM of ASTM 1675.

This could be good news or bad because of its emissions profile. Is Solazyme's renewable diesel fuel emissions the same as diesel or closer to biodiesel.

I do hope that Solazyme continues its success and get their process to commercialization and their costs down to under $80 a barrel.

Will CARB still require emissions testing and certification on this fuel like it is currently doing on biodiesel right now.

Neste has been lobbying CARB and the legislature for 2 years to get thier renewable fuel from fisher-trope processes accepted the same as diesel. They have already done emissions tests to comply with EU standards. Neste has done alot of the ground work for other renewable diesel companies to bring their product to CARB.

[Stephen Magrini]

How much has been invested in So lazy me? Seems like they are committed to making fuel and not becoming filthy rich like other Algae companies.