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Archive for January, 2012
AURORA ALGAE SET TO RAISE $100M
Posted On: January 31, 2012The company’s Western Australia operation in Karratha is planned to be increased from the initial 100 hectares of commercial operation to 400 hectares in the next stage, and then 1000 hectares.
Aurora Algae began operations in Karratha mid last year and now has its sights on raising $100 million after hitting the $22 million mark a few months ago.
The $22 million has left the company fully funded until its next expansion phase of harvesting algae-based biomass for products in the nutraceutical, pharmaceutical, aquaculture and renewable energy markets.
The company is looking to raise $100 million from existing and new private investors by mid-year, and is aligning at an IPO later in the year.
Scots and Nordic scientists set to explore sustainable skincare utilizing marine natural ingredients
Posted On: January 30, 2012Scottish company Aquapharm has joined forces with Norwegian firm Aqua Bio Technology (ABT) to create a new generation of sustainable ingredients for the skincare market.
Together the companies hope to identify natural marine ingredients that could replace the petroleum-based components used extensively within the skincare market.
Scientists at Aquapharm believe marine microbes are the key to finding the bio-active ingredients of the future, and have developed specialist fermentation processes to source and produce such extracts.
Now they will undertake a development program in conjunction with ABT, sharing their expertise in a bid to prove these extracts can be produced with minimal environmental impact – and successfully commercialized for the personal care market.
UC Davis and University of Tokyo collaborating on algae biofuels project
Posted On: January 22, 2012A better understanding of how algae can be used to make biofuels is the aim of a new joint project between UC Davis and the University of Tokyo, Japan. It is one of four new grants, jointly funded by the US National Science Foundation and the Japan Science and Technology Agency, to develop environment-friendly fuels and reduce pesticide use.
The four grants, totaling $12 million (¥960 million), will be divided between the Japanese and US laboratories. UC Davis’ share will be about $1.5 million over three years, with the possibility of renewal for another two years.
All four projects are based on metabolomics, an approach that uses high-tech analysis to understand all the chemicals involved in a living cell’s metabolism.
OriginOil and DOE to Develop Direct Conversion of Algae into Renewable Crude Oil Source
Posted On: January 22, 2012Good news on the algae-to-oil front has been released by Los Angeles-based OriginOil, Inc., in conjunction with the US Department of Energy. The company will work in partnership with Idaho National Laboratory (INL) to help algae growers to enter the global crude oil market.
OriginOil, a developer of a technology platform to extract oil from algae, reports that it plans to co-develop an integrated system with the DOE’s INL for direct conversion of raw algae into a renewable crude oil that can be used by existing petroleum refineries.
Algae-based fuels a growing business in New Mexico
Posted On: January 22, 2012Sapphire Energy Inc., which uses a proprietary process to turn algae oil into renewable gasoline to replace fossil fuels at the pump, broke ground last June on a 300-acre commercial demonstration facility in Columbus.
In Hobbs, in the heart of southeast New Mexico’s oil patch, Massachusetts-based Joule Unlimited Inc. broke ground this fall on a five-acre site that will use concentrating-solar biorefineries to extract ethanol and diesel from bacteria in salt-water mixed with carbon dioxide.
United States Patent and Trademark Office issues patent to Heliae
Posted On: January 12, 2012Heliae, an Arizona-based algae technology company, announced today three significant additions to its expanding portfolio of intellectual property.
The United States Patent and Trademark Office issued patent number 8,084,038 to Heliae entitled “Methods of and Systems for Isolating Nutraceutical Products from Algae” on December 27, 2011. Heliae has received a Notice of Allowance from the USPTO for two additional patent applications focused on Heliae’s breakthrough extraction technology. These patents are expected to issue in the first half of February.
ArcticZymes establishes US subsidiary
Posted On: January 12, 2012ArcticZymes AS announced today the formation of ArcticZymes Inc. a wholly owned subsidiary located in Plymouth Meeting, PA. ArcticZymes AS is a subsidiary of Biotec Pharmacon, focusing on enzymes for use in molecular biology and diagnostics.
“The formation of a U.S. based subsidiary is a key milestone for our company and our B2B and OEM customers in North America. Our intention is to facilitate our end users’ research by providing access to our products and technical support in an effective and productive manner,” said Jan Buch Andersen, Managing Director of ArcticZymes AS.
GlycoMar awarded grant for collaboration with MicroA of Norway
Posted On: January 5, 2012The UK Technology Strategy Board today announced funding of a collaboration between GlycoMar and MicroA of Norway for the pilot scale production of one of GlycoMar’s biologically active polysaccharides from a marine microalga using MicroA’s patented photobioreactor technology.
The project will use MicroA’s recently patented PBR technology as the scale-up platform for GlycoMar’s microalgal polysaccharide product development. MicroA will use their pilot scale system to optimise growth conditions for maximum algal polysaccharide production. GlycoMar will optimise downstream processing to maximise recovery of the target product. The project will establish the commercial viability of full-scale production. Success of the project will be an important milestone for both partner companies and the wider biotechnology and microalgae industries, and will lead to commercialisation as a high value natural skin care ingredient within 3 years.
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