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OriginOil Inc. announced that it has signed a Cooperative Agreement with The United States Department of Energy's Idaho National Laboratory (INL). The multi-phase research program will focus on validation and commercial scaling of the company's technology in the production of algae-based fuels.
"Partnerships with innovators like OriginOil will accelerate our pursuit of national energy independence initiatives."
-- Thomas Ulrich PhD, Advisory Scientist, INL
The initial phase, which starts immediately, will focus on the collaborative development of an energy balance model for photobioreactor-based algae systems. OriginOil expects to use this model in the optimization of its algae-to-oil technology as early as the 1st Quarter of 2009. Subsequent phases will center on validation of the OriginOil processes and piloting specific commercial applications.
“INL has been tasked with the key National Security mandate of developing advanced renewable energy technology. Our primary challenge is cost-effective and scalable industrial processes and our partnership with OriginOil will help us find solutions to this challenge in the promising area of algae-to-oil technology. Partnerships with innovators like OriginOil will accelerate our pursuit of national energy independence initiatives,” said Thomas Ulrich, PhD, advisory scientist for INL’s Biofuels and Renewable Energy department.
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However, my calculation based on findings by National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden,CO (NREL) indicates that algal diesel production at this stage is not large enough to make commercial scale production. The findings were some algae grow 50 gram/day/square meter or 5,000 to 20,000 gal/acre/year.
I am proposing to produce algae with wastes of sewage treatment plants, nutrient rich discharge for algae culture and sludge to produce methane which is intern produce necessary electricity, heat, and CO2 to stimulate algae growth.
I hope that the photobioreactor would increase algae production greatly so that algal diesel will supply sufficiently to reduce oil-based diesel.
Algal diesel is absolutely necessary for Idaho farmers who keep feeding not only Americans but also people of the world.
I pray for the OriginOil, Inc.
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