In California, the Defense Advanced Projects Research Administation (DARPA) announced that a second contract for algae-to-jet fuel research had been awarded to a team led by Science Applications International Corporation, or SAIC, based in San Diego. The SAIC team award was delayed by an award protest. SAIC declined to comment on other companies involved in the $14.9 million grant from DARPA , which aims to drive the cost of algae jet fuel to $2 per gallon in 18 months.
The first award was given this month to a team led by General Atomics, for $19.9 million, with similar goals.
PetroSun had teamed up with SAIC earlier in the year to provide algae for jet fuel testing purposes, but it was not confirmed that they were participating in this effort.
SAIC has not been previously prominent in the algae fuel R&D, but two teams from SAIC have been active in periphyton R&D. Periphytons are a mixture of algae, cyanobacteria and other microbes that are important in water purification.
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