Cellana LLC

ABS Wraps with Upbeat Message to the Industry—and the World

CellanaAdmin — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 23:53:50 +0000

(AlgaeIndustryMagazine.com, October 27, 2011) - There was an obvious evolution to the annual Algal Biomass Summit that concluded Thursday, Oct. 27, in Minneapolis, symbolized by an attendance increase of 25% over last year’s event in Phoenix – to 793, a 50% increase in trade show exhibitors—to 72 booths, more than 100 poster presentations, and 125 speakers. “The quality of the presenters was so much higher than in the past,” said ABO Executive Director Mary Rosenthal. “It’s become highly competitive to participate as a speaker. This was the first year we had to turn people down—we had 300 submissions for the 125 slots available.” (Read Article)

KHON2 – be green – New Energy Source

CellanaAdmin — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 00:25:53 +0000

(KHON2/Kirk Matthews, October 25th, 2011) – KHON2 5pm evening news broadcast (KHON2 5pm evening news – be green – Cellana)

NELHA’s Cellana at forefront of emerging biofuel industry

mkulwiec — Sun, 15 May 2011 22:15:50 +0000

(West Hawaii Today/Erin Miller, May 14, 2011) -Martin Sabarsky would love to see a commercial algae-to-biofuel refinery on every Hawaiian island (Read article).

Cellana Receives $5.5 Million USDA and DOE Grant to Develop New Algae-Based Animal Feeds

mkulwiec — Thu, 12 May 2011 08:00:06 +0000

(Kona, Hawaii, May 12, 2011) — Kona-based Cellana LLC, a leading developer of algae-based biofuels and bioproducts, has received a three-year $5.5 million grant to develop a protein supplement from algae as a byproduct of algal biofuels production and to demonstrate its nutritional and economic value in livestock feeds.

Funding is provided through the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s Biomass Program through the Biomass Research and Development Initiative and will help increase the availability of alternative renewable fuels and biobased products to diversify the nation’s energy resources. The award was made through a competitive selection process.

Cellana LLC, a subsidiary of Cellana, Inc. (formerly HR BioPetroleum, Inc.), will receive $5,521,173 for the project, titled “Developing a New Generation of Animal Feed Protein Supplements.” Under this grant, Cornell University will be conducting large-scale animal feeding trials using algae biomass provided by Cellana to identify the most economical and efficacious strains of algae.

“Cellana is looking forward to providing affordable and nutritious food supplies from its production of marine microalgae. These bioproducts support Cellana’s biorefinery business model and can help the livestock industry remain competitive in Hawaii and in other parts of the world,” noted Martin Sabarsky, president and CEO of Cellana, Inc.

In addition to the new grant program, Cellana has programs with universities in the U.S. and Norway to test proteins from top candidate strains to replace fishmeal in aquaculture feed. Fishmeal protein, an increasingly unsustainable source of aquaculture feed, has reached its peak in global production and become expensive.

“Cellana is also looking forward to providing a commercially viable supply of renewable biofuel in Hawaii to help it meet its renewable energy goals. All critical elements of the company’s algae cultivation technology have been demonstrated at our six-acre facility in Kona and will be incorporated at our proposed commercial plant in Maalaea, Maui. We are on track for this commercial deployment by 2014,” Sabarsky added.

About Cellana

Cellana, a Hawaii-founded developer of algae-based biofuels and bioproducts, is focused on using the most productive plants on earth – marine microalgae – to produce feedstocks for biofuels, skin and personal care products, nutritional oils, renewable chemicals and aquaculture and livestock feeds while simultaneously reducing industrial emissions of CO₂. Cellana intends to construct and operate commercial facilities to produce these products as integrated algae-based biorefineries. To date, over $100 million has been invested in developing Cellana’s algae strains, production technologies and its Kona demonstration facility. For more information about Cellana, please go to www.cellana.com

Contact:

Piia Aarma, Pineapple Tweed Public Relations
(808) 221.2102 or piia@pineappletweed.com

Cellana to Speak at Bio’s 2011 World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology and Bioprocessing

mkulwiec — Mon, 09 May 2011 08:00:37 +0000

(Kona, Hawaii, May 9, 2011) – Martin Sabarsky, president and CEO of Cellana, Inc. (formerly HR BioPetroleum, Inc.), a leading developer of algae-based biofuels and bioproducts, will speak at the 2011 World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology and Bioprocessing, produced by the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO).

The conference will be held May 8-11 at the Toronto Convention Center.

Sabarsky will be on a panel entitled “Challenges and Opportunities in Commercialization of Algae-Based Fuels and Chemicals,” scheduled to be held from 3 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. local time on Tuesday, May 10.

For more information on the BIO’s 2011 World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology and Bioprocessing, please visit http://www.bio.org/worldcongress/index.asp.

About Cellana

Cellana, a Hawaii-founded developer of algae-based biofuels and bioproducts, is focused on using the most productive plants on earth – marine microalgae – to produce feedstocks for biofuels, skin and personal care products, nutritional oils, renewable chemicals, aquaculture and other animal feeds while simultaneously reducing industrial emissions of CO2. Cellana is on track to construct and operate its first commercial facility to produce these products in an integrated algae-based biorefinery on Maui. To date, more than $100 million has been invested in developing Cellana’s algae strains, production technologies and its Kona demonstration facility. For more information about Cellana, please go to http://www.cellana.com.

Contact:

Piia Aarma
Pineapple Tweed Public Relations
(808) 221.2102
piia@pineappletweed.com

Set featured image

Kona company starts algae-to-oil production

mkulwiec — Thu, 05 May 2011 01:30:32 +0000

(Star Advertiser/Alan Yonan Jr., Honolulu, Hawaii, May 5, 2001)–Cellana says it will be able to make 3,800 gallons of oil per acre annually for biofuels (Read article).

Cellana’s Kona Demonstration Facility and Patented Algae Production Process Showing Promising Results

mkulwiec — Tue, 03 May 2011 08:00:51 +0000

(Kona, HI, May 3, 2011) –Company is leveraging technology investments to date of over $100 million; Company is focused on government programs and new corporate partnerships; Plan for Maui commercial algae facility on track for 2014.

Cellana LLC is positioned to be the first algae company to ramp up to commercial deployment for a biofuel application in Hawaii. This commercial algae facility would also represent one of the first of its kind in the United States.

“Cellana’s patented process for growing algae at industrial scale is showing promising results. With thousands of different strains already evaluated, we are growing algae strains capable of producing up to 60 tons of biomass containing 3,800 gallons of algal oil per acre per year,” explained Martin Sabarsky, Cellana’s chief executive officer.

“Cellana is now producing experimental quantities of up to a ton per month of Hawaiian strains of algae at our demonstration facility in Kona. We are testing these strains for numerous high-value applications, including fuel, animal feed, cosmetics, nutritional oils and industrial chemicals.”

Cellana is working with the National Alliance for Advanced Biofuels and Bioproducts, the Department of Energy, as well as undisclosed potential corporate partners to evaluate significant quantities of biomass produced at its six-acre demonstration facility. Cellana has also contracted with universities in the U.S. and Norway to test proteins from top candidate strains to replace fishmeal in aquaculture feed with excellent results to date.

In addition, Sabarsky notes that in August 2010 Cellana added yet another U.S. patent to its growing portfolio of owned or in-licensed intellectual property, Patent No. 7,770,322, “Continuous-batch hybrid process for production of oil and other useful products from photosynthetic microbes.” This patent is exclusively licensed to Cellana.

“The process protected by this patent is at the heart of Cellana’s past and future success, as it provides a means of avoiding contamination while minimizing the high costs associated with enclosed culture systems and allows relatively low-cost open ponds to be used,” Sabarsky explained. “Over $100 million has been invested to date in our Kona demonstration facility, our algae strains and the processes we use to grow, harvest and separate our algae biomass, which puts Cellana on a very short list of leading companies in the emerging algae-based biofuels and bioproducts industry.”

For the past several years, Cellana LLC’s parent company, Cellana, Inc., formerly known as HR BioPetroleum (HRBP), founded in Hawaii in 2004, has been evaluating sites in Hawaii to deploy a commercial-scale algae facility. In 2008, HRBP, Alexander & Baldwin, Inc., Hawaiian Electric Company and Maui Electric Company, subsidiaries of Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc. signed memoranda of understanding to pursue joint development of a commercial algae facility on land adjacent to Maui Electric’s Ma’alaea power plant. The proposed facility would use the carbon dioxide produced by the power plant to feed the algae, both reducing carbon emissions and the need for fossil fuel. In effect, the carbon dioxide produced from burning fuel for electricity would be consumed by oil-rich algae which, after harvest, could provide a biocrude or biodiesel replacement for the petroleum diesel used to power the plant as well as other valuable products.

“With world oil prices rising, and Hawaii’s already high energy costs, Cellana is looking toward providing a commercially viable supply of renewable biofuel,” noted Sabarsky. “It is a pioneering effort with tremendous potential, and we are now looking at 2014 for the construction and operation of this transformational facility on Maui.”

“After initial field trials, we are also enthusiastic about the technical and economic viability of algal protein from our leading strains of algae for use as a fishmeal supplement to provide a valuable co-product,” said Barry Raleigh, chairman of Cellana, Inc.’s board of directors and company co-founder.

“Fishmeal protein, which is an increasingly unsustainable source of aquaculture feed, has reached its peak in global production and has become very expensive. Algae protein as a fishmeal supplement looks as if it may provide an answer for the demands of the aquaculture industry and an excellent revenue stream for Cellana.”

In initial trials using two candidate strains of Cellana’s algae, fishmeal protein was replaced, in part, by algal protein. Farmed salmon, carp and shrimp consumed the replacement feed and then were compared with those fed the standard diet. Weight gain, feed conversion and protein efficiency were either unaffected or significantly improved by the use of the algal protein, when compared to the traditional fishmeal protein.

Salmon were unaffected when replacing five to 10 percent of the fishmeal with algal protein. In carp and shrimp, 25 to 40 percent replacement showed improvements in feed conversion efficiency, weight gain and an improved coloration in the harvested fish. Sabarsky said larger-scale trials are now in process.

About Cellana
Cellana, a Hawaii-founded developer of algae-based biofuels and bioproducts, is focused on using the most productive plants on earth – marine microalgae – to produce feedstocks for biofuels, aquaculture feed, animal feed, cosmetics, industrial chemicals and other valuable products while simultaneously reducing industrial emissions of CO₂. Cellana intends to construct and operate commercial facilities to produce these products as integrated algae-based biorefineries. To date, over $100 million has been invested in developing Cellana’s algae strains, production technologies and its Kona demonstration facility. For more information about Cellana, please go to www.cellana.com.

NO POSITIONS AVAILABLE

mkulwiec — Mon, 02 May 2011 00:05:28 +0000

Thank you for considering Cellana for potential career opportunities. There are currently no positions available.

HR BioPetroleum Makes Changes Name, Board, and Leadership

mkulwiec — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 12:00:35 +0000

(Kona, Hawaii, April 25, 2011) –HR BioPetroleum, Inc. (HRBP), a leading developer of algae-based biofuels and bioproducts, announced today that the company has changed its name to Cellana, Inc., promoted Martin Sabarsky to president and chief executive officer, and that Mike May was elected to the board of directors.

Former CEO Ed Shonsey will remain on the board, joining chairman and co-founder C. Barry Raleigh, Ph.D., May and Sabarsky, who was also elected to the board at a recent shareholders’ meeting.

HR BioPetroleum, now Cellana, Inc., founded in Hawaii in 2004, uses the most productive plants on earth – marine algae – to produce feedstocks for biofuels, aquaculture feed, animal feed, cosmetics, industrial chemicals and other valuable products while simultaneously reducing industrial emissions of CO2. In 2007, HRBP and Royal Dutch Shell PLC, the international energy company, formed Cellana as a separate joint venture to build and operate a six-acre demonstration facility to grow marine algae and produce vegetable oil for conversion into biofuel. HRBP became the sole owner of Cellana LLC in January 2011.

May, founder of T. Michael May Advisor Services, was CEO of Hawaiian Electric Company, Inc. (HECO) from 1995 to 2009. He serves on the board of directors for Sopogy, American Electric and The James Campbell Company. He is an adviser to Natural Power Concepts and two other energy start-ups. He also served for over 13 years on the boards of the Electric Power Research Institute and the Edison Electric Institute. He serves on numerous community services organizations including the Aloha Council of the Boy Scouts, The Chamber of Commerce and is beginning to serve on the University of Hawaii Foundation board in 2011.

At HECO, May developed and executed the company’s long-term growth strategies, leading the company’s drive of renewable energy and energy efficiency in Hawaii. He joined HECO as a senior vice president in 1992 and was elected president and CEO in 1995; he retired on August 1, 2008. Prior to joining HECO, he was the founder and principal of Management Assets Group, president of Caterpillar Capital Company and held the roles of vice president and general manager of the Energy Services Division at Solar Turbines Inc., a Caterpillar Company and vice president, Finance and Planning, and chief financial officer at Solar Turbines, Inc. and Caterpillar, Inc.

Sabarsky has served as the CFO and COO of HRBP since August 2008. He has significant leadership experience in the industrial biotechnology sector, as well as extensive transactional experience across multiple industries, having worked as an investment banker and attorney on over $13 billion of transactions in aggregate. Prior to joining HRBP, he led the corporate development function at Diversa Corp., a public industrial biotechnology company now known as Verenium Corp., and led a number of additional functions within Diversa’s Finance and Accounting Department.

Before Diversa, Sabarsky was an investment banker with Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc., where he focused on financings, mergers and acquisitions within the life sciences industry. Prior to joining Bear Stearns, he worked as a transactional attorney with Latham & Watkins LLP, where he focused on the corporate, securities and tax aspects of financings and mergers and acquisitions in the real estate, healthcare, venture capital and biotechnology industries. He has an A.B. in biology and political science from Brown University, a J.D. from Harvard Law School and an M.B.A. from the Rady School of Management at the University of California, San Diego. He is an active member of BIO, the world’s largest biotechnology organization and is a frequent presenter at industry meetings.

About Cellana

Cellana, a Hawaii-founded developer of algae-based biofuels and bioproducts, is focused on using the most productive plants on earth – marine microalgae – to produce feedstocks for biofuels, aquaculture feed, animal feed, cosmetics, industrial chemicals and other valuable products while simultaneously reducing industrial emissions of CO2. Cellana intends to construct and operate commercial facilities to produce these products as integrated algae-based biorefineries. To date, over $100 million has been invested in developing Cellana’s algae strains, production technologies and its Kona demonstration facility. For more information, please go to www.cellana.com.

HR BioPetroleum to Acquire Shell’s Shareholding in Cellana Algae Joint Venture

mkulwiec — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 12:00:49 +0000

(Honolulu, HI, January 27, 2011) — HR BioPetroleum, Inc. (HRBP), a Hawaii-based and -founded renewable biofuels company, today announced that it will acquire Shell’s shareholding in Cellana, a joint venture between Shell and HRBP. On January 31, 2011, HRBP will become the sole owner of Cellana, including its six-acre demonstration facility in Kona, Hawaii.

In 2007, HRBP and Royal Dutch Shell PLC, the international energy company, formed Cellana as a separate joint venture to build and operate a demonstration facility to grow marine algae and produce vegetable oil for conversion into biofuel. To date, it is one of the most advanced operational demonstration facilities among algae-to-biofuel organizations and companies in the United States.

‘‘The acquisition of Cellana represents a significant opportunity for HRBP and its corporate and project stakeholders, including the University of Hawaii, Hawaiian Electric Company, Maui Electric Company, the National Alliance for Advanced Biofuels and Bioproducts consortium, the U.S. Department of Energy and others,’’ said Ed Shonsey, HRBP CEO.

‘‘We will continue to operate Cellana’s Kona demonstration facility and to continuously improve the economics for growing marine algae using HRBP’s patented process. Based on HRBP’s and Cellana’s results to date, we believe this technology holds great potential for the economical production of algae and algae-derived products for applications within the aquaculture and animal feed markets, as well as for the production of algal oil for conversion into biofuels.”

To support the transition Shell has agreed to provide short-term funding to advance and focus the algae technology development program. HRBP will further develop the technology at the Kona demonstration facility with the objective of first commercial deployment at the Ma’alaea site the company has selected on Maui, Hawaii.

Algae, the fastest growing plant on the planet, can produce substantially greater oil per acre than traditional oil seeds while simultaneously recycling industrial emissions of CO2, greatly reducing the carbon footprint as compared to other processes. Many strains of algae can grow optimally using brackish water, seawater or wastewater.

About HRBP and Cellana
HR BioPetroleum (HRBP) a Hawaii-based and -founded renewable biofuels company, and Cellana are focused on using the most productive plants on earth – marine algae – to produce feedstocks for biofuel, animal feed, and other valuable applications while simultaneously reducing industrial emissions of CO2. Using the joint HRBP/Cellana technologies, HRBP intends to construct and operate commercial algae facilities to produce fuel, aquaculture and other animal feeds, and other valuable products. For more information about HRBP and Cellana, please go to www.hrbp.com and www.cellana.com.

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For more information, contact:
Piia Aarma at Pineapple Tweed, 808-221-2102