The 2014 Algae Biomass Summit at two key sessions featured 10 of the leading companies in the algae sector, including Martin Sabarsky, CEO, Cellana. He stated:
- Last 15 years there has been a combination of $100 million in private investment and public funding from government sources, labs to bring this technology to commercial scale, highlighted by a new grant from DOE in the last few weeks
- The DOE is gone very far and been instrumental in supporting the industry
- Signature off-take agreement with Neste Oil, signed last year
- We produce multiple products, primarily by volume fuel grade oils and feed – multiple products improve the economics
- Our demonstration facility is in Kona, Hawaii
- Our vision of Cellana’s expansion involves a multi-phase approach
- Yield is coming up and costs going down with scale
Comments from all the companies, their interaction with the Algae Biomass Summit delegates in the Q&A, and their projected key milestones over the next 12 months, provide as good a summary of the state of the algae industry as The Digest can assemble. Read more.