Microalgae oil production could receive a well-deserved boost due to recent discoveries made at Solazyme. Researchers developed a method to produce different types of bio-oils at the same location (not necessarily to be used as fuels). They utilized simple industrial fermentation and the company’s own patented microalgae strains.
Solazyme says their new technology is a game-changer through the fact that it is able to “produce multiple oils in a matter of days out of one plant location using standard industrial fermentation.”
Walter Rakitsky a Ph.D at Solazyme says that the technology they’ve developed allows for the creation of oils that can be used from powering diesel engines to renewable chemicals and skin care products. These uses would replace similar products so far produced from petroleum, plants and animals.
Solazyme’s first commercial-scale production plans that is to produce oil in this manner is about to get unveiled in Brazil (having Bunge as their partner). The facility, located next to a sugarcane mill, will use sugar to grow the algae and produce some 110,000 tons of oil per year, with plans to triple that amount over time.
