Black gold goes green: ExxonMobil invests in research to convert algae to biofuels.
ExxonMobil to grow algae for oil
US supermajor ExxonMobil is seeking to create a “new source of oil” in its $600 million algae-to-gasoline development project and stands ready to invest billions of dollars if the research succeeds.
Fuel derived from algae, which may be produced within five to 10 years, will need to be as cheap to make as crude-based fuels, Emil Jacobs, Exxon Mobils vice president for research and development, told reporters today on a conference call.
Earlier today, ExxonMobil announced a venture with Synthetic Genomics to harvest lipids from algae for processing into fuel.
Oil companies are investing in biofuels as governments ramp up alternative-energy mandates. Anglo-Dutch supermajor Shell announced plans in December for an algae project in Hawaii.
UK supermajor BP is working on making fuels from grass and sugarcane.
ExxonMobil chose to bankroll Venter’s algae research after a multi-year evaluation ruled out other options, Jacobs said.
“Our goal is to produce a new source of oil,” Jacobs said in a Bloomberg report.
“It could be possible to convert it into gasoline and diesel in existing refineries, transport it through existing pipelines and sell it at existing retail stations.”
ExxonMobil and Synthetic Genomics, known as SGI, plan to build a greenhouse in San Diego that will test various strains of algae to find those with optimal characteristics for producing refinery-ready lipids, Venter said on today’s call.
“Sunlight is the most plentiful source of energy on the planet,” Venter said today. “This is an attempt to capture that energy and covert it into hydrocarbons.”