Algae Movers & Shakers: Solazyme

Solazyme’s been on a strong run throughout 2008 and 2009, recently announcing that it closed a $57 million third round of funding. $45 million of the round had previously been announced. Funds were invested by Braemar Energy Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners, VantagePoint, Roda Group, Harris & Harris and Solazyme chairman Jerry Fiddler.

Solazyme, which was ranked #6 in the Hottest 50 Companies in Bioenergy for 2008-09 said that it will be developing markets in the high-end cosmaceutical and pharmaceutical sectors as well as continuing to make progress towards making biodiesel and jet fuel at commercially viable costs.

The company utilizes a unique “grow in the dark” algae cultivation strategy, in which the algae is fed plant waste cellulosic and other cellulosic materials that contain sugars – the food is used in lieu of sunlight and CO2 to provide energy that algae convert into lipids.

In April, Life Cycle Associates, the same consultant that performed lifecycle greenhouse gas calculations for the California Air Resources Board, completed a field-to-wheels assessment of Soladiesel, the company’s algae-based biodiesel using the Argonne National Laboratories GREET model. LCA found that Soladiesel’s full lifecycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are 85 to 93 percent lower than standard petroleum based ultra-low sulfur diesel (ULSD).

Additional testing by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory found that Soladiesel also generates a 30 percent reduction in particulates, a nearly 20 percent reduction in carbon monoxide and and a nearly 10 percent reduction in THC.

Recently, BlueFire Ethanol announced that algae-to-energy pioneer Solazyme is testing sugars produced through BlueFire’s process, for compatibility with its renewable oil process.

Elsewhere, Solazyme has been reported to be on the warpath towards cheap sugar. Recently, CTO and co-founder Harrison Dillon said that the company would be at parity with $80 oil by 2012/13. CEO Jonathan Wolfson said earlier this year thhat he expected the company to be at 100 Mgy in production at that time.

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