Aquapreneur » seaweed

Algae.Tec Successfully Completes $5m Capital Raising With Patersons Securities

Admin — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 17:37:04 +0000

Algae.Tec Ltd has announced that the AUD$5,000,000 (USD$5,354,086.97) Placement through Patersons Securities Limited has been successfully completed.

As previously stated, this capital raising will be utilised to fund the fast-tracking of commercial projects recently announced.

Algae.Tec Executive Chairman, Roger Stroud, said the Company was extremely pleased with the capital raising.

“This again demonstrates that sophisticated investors are aligned with the need for alternative transport fuel technologies such as the Algae.Tec enclosed algae to biofuels solution,” said Stroud.

“The market is also responding to the recent milestones and commercial deal announcements the Company has signed with major companies in China, Sri Lanka and Europe.”

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AURORA ALGAE SET TO RAISE $100M

Admin — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 20:02:11 +0000

The 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.

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UC Davis and University of Tokyo collaborating on algae biofuels project

Admin — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 15:18:41 +0000

A 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.

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OriginOil and DOE to Develop Direct Conversion of Algae into Renewable Crude Oil Source

Admin — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 15:14:26 +0000

Good 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.

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Algae-based fuels a growing business in New Mexico

Admin — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 15:09:43 +0000

Sapphire 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.

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Algae biofuel pilot plant construction starts

Admin — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 15:32:46 +0000

The Biotechnology Consortium (Bal Biofuels) began the construction of the Experimental Centre of Algae (CEA) in Puerto Montt Campus of the University of Los Lagos. The plant is expected to be operational from August next year.

The proponents of the initiative plan to develop technology to produce advanced biofuels and high added value chemicals with low emissions of carbon dioxide and low cost, using native giant kelp (Macrocystis pyrifera) farmed in a sustainable manner.

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Algae Biodiesel Company World Health Energy Holdings Inc. Announces Letter of Intent to Develop Up to 250 Acre Algae Farm With Prime Inc. India

Admin — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 15:30:12 +0000

$100 Million Project Envisioned for Production of Biodiesel and Commercial Fish Food

World Health Energy Holdings, Inc. , a public holding company developing joint venture partnerships for algae production for biodiesel and commercial fish food, announced today the signing of Letter of Intent with Prime Inc., an India Industrial and transport Company, to develop a biodiesel production facility ramping up to 250 acres with a budget of up to 100 million dollars.

The proposed sites for development are in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, India and will utilize an Algae Enhancement Technology, known as the GB3000 system, used for growing algae for the production of Fish Feed, Proteins and Bio-fuel in the Territory of India. Prime Inc. India’s current clients include: Exon, Shell, General Electric (GE) and Siemens.

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Maersk Tests Algae-Based Biofuel in Cargo Voyage to India

Admin — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 15:25:15 +0000

Maersk is testing a range of algae-based biofuel blends aboard a container ship headed to India as part of a project with the U.S. Navy.

Maersk, based in Denmark, has worked with the Navy for about 30 years. However, the biofuels testing program is the first partnership between the world’s largest commercial container carrier and the Navy’s Naval Sea Systems Command.

Both the Navy and the Maersk Line, which is part of the A.P. Moller – Maersk Group, are on a mission to reduce the environmental impacts of their operations at sea and on land.

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Turning algae into energy gets Halifax company on award shortlist

Admin — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 15:23:07 +0000

A Halifax biotechnology company is hoping green slime will help its business take flight.

Marine Arctic & Antarctic Technologies Inc. is one of 10 startups that made the shortlist of the Nova Scotia Clean Tech Open, Innovacorp announced Wednesday.

The competition’s goal is to assist a clean technology company in getting established in the province.

Marine Arctic & Antarctic Technologies is developing technology to mass produce micro-algae for use in biofuel and other products.

“It’s like slop,” CEO Mather Carscallen said of the raw material during an interview.

“Some of it smells bad. Some of it doesn’t. It’s pretty much every different smell, shape, colour you could ever imagine.”

The algae would be incubated in a bioreactor that could vary in size and designed to be cost effective, he said.

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Effects of Dietary Seaweed Extract Supplementation to Sows and Weaned Pigs

Admin — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 15:01:58 +0000

Seaweed extract (SWE) supplementation after weaning improved gut health and enhanced the performance of starter pigs and increased growth rate during the grower-finisher phases, according to researchers in the Irish Republic. There was no response to SWE inclusion in grower-finisher pigs born from sows that had received SWE in late pregnancy.

The present study investigated the effects of dietary supplementation of a seaweed extract (SWE) to sows and weaned pigs on post-weaning growth performance, intestinal morphology, intestinal microflora, volatile fatty acid concentrations and immune status of pigs at days 11 and 117 post-weaning, explained S.G. Leonard and colleagues at University College Dublin in the Irish Republic in a paper published recently in British Journal of Nutrition.

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