Major step towards algae fuel production on an industrial scale

Scientists from ExxonMobil and Synthetic Genomics (SGI) have taken a huge step towards producing algae biofuels on an industrial scale, developing a strain of algae capable of converting carbon into a record amount of energy rich fat. This fat can then be turned into biofuels.

Using CO₂ to generate fat from algae is not necessarily new, but the amount of fat produced by this new strain of algae is hugely significant. As a statement from ExxonMobil’s Energy Factor publication states: “Fatty algae make the strain more fit to eventually produce biofuels at an industrial scale.”

Algae based fuel offers a number of significant benefits. It emits fewer greenhouse gases than most other energy sources, meaning it could potentially play a vital role in the transition to emission energy sources. Just as significantly, unlike other biofuel feedstocks such as corn or sugar cane, algae production on an industrial scale would not have a negative effect on food production.

SGI and ExxonMobil have been collaborating on research into algae biofuels since 2009. The scientists have been tweaking the parts of the algae genome responsible for nitrogen assimilation, an essential nutrient. The result is the creation of algae with about 40% of its mass as fat, double the fat content of conventional algae.

“We knew that algae had the potential to be more productive than other biofuel sources like corn and soy beans and, unlike those, they don’t require arable land or freshwater,” Alessandro Faldi, ExxonMobil scientist, explained.

“It was a true eureka moment when we knew what we had,” said Rob Brown, SGI’s senior director and the lead scientist on the algae project. “After testing and retesting the breakthrough, ensuring it wasn’t just a false positive, a cheer went up in the lab. If you can imagine people doing cartwheels down the hall, that’s what it feels like after years of research to move the needle in such a substantial way.”

Although only a small step along the way towards algae biofuel production on an industrial scale, the scientists’ findings are a significant development.

“This step is critical, but it’s important to keep our focus down the line to where we need to go,” Faldi said. “We will need to increase the algae’s ability to convert the sun’s energy into biomass to further increase fat production and will begin testing and engineering more algae grown under various conditions. There’s still a long journey ahead of us.”