Algae-to-biofuel company Solazyme, Inc. announced that the U.S. Navy wants an additional 150,000 gallons of fuel, following the completion of an earlier contract for 20,000 gallons of algal-derived shipboard fuel for testing.
The conclusion is that the Navy is happy with the performance of the fuel. The new contract with the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) is for a research and development project that will produce 150,000 gallons in 2010-2011, which is 7.5 times larger than the previous order.
“We are excited by the new DoD contract which calls for much larger volumes of Soladiesel®HRF-76 Renewable Naval Distillate fuel, and view its signing on the heels of our successful delivery as strong validation of Solazyme’s technology and of our prospects to provide meaningful quantities of low carbon fuels for our national defense,” said Solazyme’s CEO Jonathan Wolfson. “Our renewable oil production technology which results in a 100% military-spec, drop-in replacement fuel from algae can be a significant component of the Navy’s long term strategy to supply 50% of its energy from renewables by 2020.”
This is Solazyme’s third advanced biofuels contract with the DoD in the past year. The new agreement calls for additional research and development using Solazyme’s renewable oil production technology platform and culminates with the delivery of up to 150,000 gallons of in-specification 100% algal-derived Soladiesel®HRF-76 fuel for the U.S. Navy’s testing and certification program. F-76, of which HRF-76 is the renewable version, is the primary shipboard fuel used by the Navy.
Last September, Solazyme announced two DoD contracts to research, develop, and demonstrate commercial-scale production of algal-derived advanced biofuels to meet the U.S. Navy’s rigorous specifications for military tactical platforms for both ships and jets. The first contract called for the production of 20,000 gallons of Soladiesel®HRF-76, which was fulfilled with this fuel delivery, and the second called for 1,500 gallons of the world’s first 100% algae-derived jet fuel for testing and certification by the U.S. Navy. The delivery of 1,500 gallons of Solajet®HRJ-5 was completed earlier this summer during the Farnborough International Air Show with Honeywell’s UOP (NYSE: HON) again serving as the refining partner with their Green Jet Fuel process technology.
Founded in 2003 and headquartered in South San Francisco, Solazyme’s technology enables the production of oil and biomaterials in standard fermentation facilities quickly, efficiently and at large scale. These oils and biomaterials are tailored to be drop-in replacements for fossil fuel and plant oils, which are feedstocks for a diverse range of products ranging from fuels and chemicals to personal care products.
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