NNFCC exclusive: Interview with algal biofuel specialists Solazyme

In each issue of the NNFCC Newsletter we feature an expert voice in the field of biorenewables who will give their opinion on the latest developments in the field. In this latest issue we talk exclusively to Rogerio Manso, Chief Commercialization Officer of Tailored Oils at algae fuel specialists Solazyme, about their progress towards sustainable algae aviation biofuels.

When do you expect algal biofuels to be commercially available?

Solazyme’s breakthrough tailored renewable oil production technology is real and on the cusp of widespread commercialization and use. We have already produced over half a million liters of finished fuels and those fuels have been tested and certified by ASTM, EN and meet military specifications as well. Our fuels have been tested unblended for thousands of miles in unmodified engines and they are currently going through testing and certification with the US military and have been successfully demonstrated in operational platforms including a destroyer and a seahawk helicopter, among others.

Our technology allows us to take microalgae, a single-celled organism that has evolved over billions of year to make oil- and optimize it to shorten its oil production time from millennia to just a few days.  And just as importantly, using biotechnology, we can optimize the process to make almost any type of oil, from a wide variety of oils found in nature, to completely new oils that address unmet needs -- and we do this sustainably and renewably. The key to being commercial is the ability to scale and produce at the right cost, our technology which uses standard industrial fermentation allows us to produce quickly, efficiently and at the scale needed to be at the right cost in a fit for purpose built facility.

We have partnerships with world class companies including United, Dow, Unilever, Chevron, and the US Navy, all of which are helping us to commercialize our process and meet the ever growing need of supplying renewable oil to various industries including aviation, transportation, and chemical applications, among others.

Today, we're producing demonstration commercial levels of renewable fuels and chemical oils using existing infrastructure and we are selling nutrition and skin and personal care products in well over 1,000 stores around the world. As our renewable oil production capacity grows we are on target to be producing 550,000 metric tons (MT) of oil in 2015.

What is the single biggest challenge to the commercialisation of algae biofuels?

Scale is key. Solazyme has been laser focused on building out our renewable oil production capacity and scaling our technology to reach commercial levels of production in all of our target market areas. We have already reached the technical milestones to produce at the right economics in a purpose built facility. We have built our technology platform and our products so that they can operate in today’s existing infrastructure and we use standard industrial fermentation and downstream processing equipment that needs little or no modification. Our oils are compatible with existing production, refining, finishing and distribution infrastructure, logistics channels, and technical specifications, which enables them to be drop-in replacements for conventional oils.

How sustainable are algal biofuels?

Solazyme oils address many of the challenges associated with traditional, unsustainable oils, such as constrained supplies, volatile pricing, and potentially negative and irreversible environmental effects. Solazyme can mirror or enhances oils derived from the world’s three existing sources in an environmentally sustainable manner while adding greater value to those currently on the market.

Solazyme’s renewable oils have been compared against a variety of biofuel diesels including soy biodiesel, renewable diesel from palm, biodiesel from waste animal fat, and the petroleum average baseline for petroleum based diesel. In life cycle analysis tests, we evaluated our field to wheels emissions and carbon output using both US and European Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) models and under different regulations including California Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) Program and European Renewable Energy Directive (RED), found that we have superior greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions to not only petroleum; but better reductions this side of waste streams.

What is Solazyme doing to lead innovation in algae biofuels?

Solazyme's breakthrough tailored oil technology is unique in the industry as well as in the microbially derived advanced fuels industry.  Our ability to tailor oils by carbon chain length and saturation means that we can create the ideal oil for jet fuel or diesel, not to mention a wide array of other oils ideally suited for other markets such as renewable chemicals.

Beyond the tailored oil technological differentiators, production of oil at scale sets Solazyme apart.  To date, we believe that we have delivered the largest non-alcohol microbial biofuel deliveries in history. This includes over 400,000 liters of HRD-76 Naval marine diesel fuel to the US Navy, meeting the technical specifications required by their platforms, which are some of the most stringent in the world. In addition, Solazyme’s renewable oil production platform can use a wide variety of fermentable sugar feedstocks, including cellulosic sugars and sugarcane, which makes our production process feedstock agnostic and not geographically limited.

Where do you think Solazyme will be in five years’ time?

Solazyme is well on track to meet our stated 2015 renewable oil production capacity goals of 550,000 MT of oil.  In November of 2011, we flew the first US commercial passenger flight on a blend of 40 per cent algal derived Solajet™ fuel and petroleum jet fuel with United.  At that time, we announced a non-binding offtake with United to supply 20 million gallons of Solajet™ starting in 2014, and we believe that as capacity comes online, we will continue to see agreements such as these continue to grow and expand.

Do you think algal biofuels could ever realistically replace all of our current aviation fuel needs?

Advanced biofuels will definitely have a place at the table and will play a meaningful role in a cleaner aviation future.