SunEco claims 200-260K per acre algae yields for polyclonal, deep light system

In California, Automotive Industries is reporting on SunEco Energy, which announced a project to build out a 1320 acre-feet open pond algae system and produce 45 Mgy algae-based crude oil as soon as 2010. SunEco’s Jim Hardin told AI, “Monoculture photosynthesis single species systems do not apply to the SunEco technology which has achieved highly discounted algae oil yield value of 33,000 gal/acre-ft/year via a polyclonal system using over 30 algae species. Both Photosynthetic and heterotrophic manipulation in a number of ways (proprietary) are used. Much deeper outdoor ponds add to SunEco’s total yield advantage”.

The company has claimed an astonishing 200,000 to 260,000 gal/acre/yr yield target, but AI noted that  “Unexplained for reasons of intellectual property security are details of how photosynthesis and heterotrophic action are used in combination and also how high algae growth rates are maintained in 6-8 ft. deep ponds.” The SunEco pilot plant is located in Niland in the Imperial Valley.

Free Subscription to the Daily Biofuels Digest e-newsletter

Related Stories

Breakthrough gain in algae oil yield per acre claimed

By Bob Brooks, Auto Tech News With algae oil production yields indicated to be over 70,000 gallons/acre/year , an advanced method for producing the bio oil is being readied for commercial producti...

Bionavitas unveils new light technology to solve algae self-shading, dramatically increase algae yields

In Washington,  algae-to-energy pioneer Bionavitas unveiled its patent-pending Light Immersion Technology that dramatically increases algae yields in a cost-efficient and scalable model. To date, nea...

SunEco and JB Hunt trucking firm sign agreement for algae biodiesel after successful alga-based B20, B50 trials

In California, SunEco and JB Hunt announced a cooperative agreement which could lead to J.B. Hunt becoming a significant purchaser of biodiesel made from natural algae oil using SunEco Energy's propri...

OriginOil invents low-cost system to distribute sunlight more efficiently in algae photobioreactors

In California, OriginOil said that it has filed a Patent Cooperation Treaty application for a system that provides efficient light utilization with comparatively low energy cost in algae photobioreact...

Algae Movers and Shakers: Origin Oil

One of the pleasant "shocker" industry announcements this spring came from OriginOil, in revealing a one-step process for algae dewatering and oil extraction. Last month, the company said that it h...

OriginOil launches new lighting Dynamic Control system for algae cultivation

In California, OriginOil, a developer of  technologies supporting the algae to energy conversion, announced a new lighting system for algae production. The company's Dynamic Control System designed t...