Solazyme, Sapphire Energy, Sustainable Oils, Rentech, Terasol share “Biofuels Digest Company of the Year Award” for Achievement in Commercialization

[BIOFUELS DIGEST NEWSWIRE] In Miami, Biofuels Digest announced that a group of companies associated with the advancement of aviation biofuels — Solazyme, Sapphire Energy, Sustainable Oils, Rentech, and Terasol — have jointly received the Biofuels Digest Company of the Year award for Achievement in Commercialization.

The awards were given in recognition of the companies significant contributions to the development of commercially-available renewable jet fuels, and have led to successful flight tests by commercial airlines, as well as orders from the US military and commercial operators for renewable jet fuel for testing and commercial use. Renewable aviation biofuels were named #8 on JWT Group’s “100 Things to Watch” list for 2010.

“Though cellulosic ethanol has made incredible strides towards commercialization this year,” said Biofuels Digest editor Jim Lane, “aviation biofuels have not only made huge progress, they represent the consensus choice of environmentalists, policymakers, and end users as a superior alternative to fossil-based aviation fuels. When the chairman of United Airlines steps up at a conference and says “we’re ready to be the customer,” you know that biofuels have the potential to capture a 60 billion gallon market (for commercial airlines alone) worth more than $100 billion in sales per year.”

“Among readers voting in the poll, and the editorial board, there was a clear sense that several companies and organizations had come together to advance this sector, and so the award is being shared by companies that have supplied fuels for testing and for use,” Lane added. “It is also important to recognize the immense efforts of the end-user community — including Boeing, the Civil Aviation Alternative Fuels Initiative (CAAFI), the Sustainable Aviation Fuel User’s Group (SAFUG), ATA, ICAO, IATA, Continental Airlines, Japan Air Lines, Air New Zealand, KLM, and Virgin Atlantic, among others, for their consistent and notable efforts in support of renewable aviation fuels.”

Biofuels Digest is the world’s most widely-read biofuels daily, with more than 50,000 unique readers via email, RSS and the web, as measured by Quantcast and Constant Contact. Solazyme, Sapphire Energy, Sustainable Oils, Rentech, Terasol will be recognized, along with other Biofuels Digest award winners, at the Advanced Biofuels Leadership Conference in Washington, DC on April 27-28, 2010.

More information on Solazyme
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