By September ‘08, Aquaflow said Aquaflow said that it had produced its first batch of commercially competitive green crude oil made from algae oil. The crude oil product is made from wild algae grown on human sewage. Company executives said that the development was significant because the company could separate fuels such as diesel fuels, aviation fuels, and high-value chemicals, from a green crude product.

Nbr.co.nz reported earlier this year that that the company has appointed aviation engineering consultant Des Ashton to lead operation development related to aviation projects. Virgin CEO Sir Richard Branson has been quoted saying that the proposed Air New Zealand biofuels test flight would use algae-based biodiesel, after the initial Virgin Atlantic flight using a mix babassu palm and coconut oils. Aquaflow had been rumored rumored to be the fuel supplier for the flight, until a conflicting report appeared from the airline itself, stating that it intended to use jatropha biodiesel instead. 

Overall, Aquaflow can be placed among those companies who have abandoned the closed photobioreactor or the open pond raceway as a large-scale algae production technique; however, it is not clear whether it will continue to pursue solid waste environments as feedstock, or look instead to produce algae in the wild, in streams and lakes.

The company stated this summer that it has developed a scalable method for producing and harvesting algae in the wild, and envisioned expanding to a series of 1,000 acre facilities in the US and other countries.