Algae Movers and Shakers: Sapphire Energy

Sapphire gained instant attention when it raised a stunning $100 million, and participated in the initial algae-based jet test with Continental last December. The combination were factors in propelling Sapphire to a #2 ranking in last December’s 50 Hottest Companies in Bioenergy list. The company has been fine tuning its process in recent months, while increasing the pace of its commercialization schedule.

The company has indicated it will be at 1 Mgy in production by 2011 and 100 Mgy by 2018.

The company’s process starts with molecular biology where Sapphire engineers traits into strains that are considered good candidates for producing the oils are consistent with sustainability objectives.  Once these strains have met the criteria Sapphire has established for an ” industrial organism”, the strain is then transferred to Sapphire’s New Mexico R&D center where it is put through real world conditions to prove commercial viability.

The industrial strains will be grown in open ponds until they mature.  At this time they are harvested and de-watered (4 to 15 days depending on conditions) and oil is extracted and purified into Green Crude.  The Green Crude then is refined.

Tim Zenk of Sapphire said, “Sapphire Energy is investigating a number of methods for use of biomass, including anaerobic digestion.  We are striving for a closed loop system which keeps our energy costs low.  We like anaerobic digestion because we can use the solid biomass, after extraction, to generate methane which would turn a turbine, generate electricity and CO2.  The CO2 is then recycled back into our pond system and off-sets the additional CO2 requirements.  We have not yet settled on what the balance between this solution and others may be, however we hope to resolve those questions in the next couple years.”

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