Algae pioneer Solazyme raises $57 million in third funding round

In California, algae biofuels pioneer Solazyme announced that it has closed a $57 million third round of funding. $45 million of the round had previously been announced.

Funds were invested by Braemar Energy Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners, VantagePoint, Roda Group, Harris & Harris and Solazyme chairman Jerry Fiddler.

Solazyme, which was ranked #6 in the Hottest 50 Companies in Bioenergy for 2008-09 said that it will be developing markets in the high-end cosmaceutical and pharmaceutical sectors as well as continuing to make progress towards making biodiesel and jet fuel at commercially viable costs.

The company utilizes a unique “grow in the dark” algae cultivation strategy, in which the algae is fed plant waste cellulosic and other cellulosic materials that contain sugars – the food is used in lieu of sunlight and CO2 to provide energy that algae convert into lipids.

In April, Life Cycle Associates, the same consultant that performed lifecycle greenhouse gas calculations for the California Air Resources Board, completed a field-to-wheels assessment of Soladiesel, the company’s algae-based biodiesel using the Argonne National Laboratories GREET model. LCA 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).

Additional testing by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory found that Soladiesel also generates a 30 percent reduction in particulates, a nearly 20 percent reduction in carbon monoxide and and a nearly 10 percent reduction in THC.

Recently, BlueFire Ethanol announced that algae-to-energy pioneer Solazyme is testing sugars produced through BlueFire’s process, for compatibility with its renewable oil process.

BlueFire Ethanol is currently focused on developing its first ethanol biorefinery in Lancaster, California. The Lancaster facility will use post-sorted cellulosic wastes diverted from landfills to produce 3.9 million gallons of fuel-grade ethanol per year. BlueFire was also awarded $40 million from the U.S. Department of Energy for construction of a second plant in Southern California, and has received the first installment of funding from the DOE for the development of the BlueFire Mecca plant.

More about the Solazyme funding in:

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