10 December 2013
Details
Sapphire Energy, Inc.,
one of the world leaders in
algae-based green crude oil,
and Phillips 66,
an integrated energy manufacturing and logistics company,
annouced a strategic joint development agreement
aimed at taking production of algae crude oil
a significant step toward commercialization.
The company will work together to collect and analyze
data from co-processing of algae and
conventional crude oil into fuels.
The goal is to complete fuel certifications to
ready Sapphire Energy' renewable crude oil,
called Green Crude,
for wide-scale oil refining.
Under the agreement the companies will expand
Sapphire Energy's current testing programs
to further validate that
Green Crude can be refined in traditional refineries
and meet all of the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA)
certification requirements under the Clean Air Act.
This includes determining the optimal operating conditions
for processing algae crude oil into
American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM)
-certified diesel, gasoline and jet fuel.
Once the study is finished, the companies will work
together to complete the EPA certification process
to register a new fuel product entering the market.
About Sapphire Energy : Green Crude oil production
Sapphire Energy is now producing crude oil daily
from algae biomass cultivated and harvested
at the company's Green Crude Farm,
located in Columbus, N.M., USA.
The farm is
the world's first algae-to-energy facility that demonstrates
the entire value chain of algae-based crude oil production,
* from cultivation,
* to harvest,
* to the conversion of biomass to ready-to-refine crude oil.
In the initial testing by Sapphire Energy,
Green Crude oil was upgraded into
on-spec ASTM 975 diesel fuel,
proving its compatibility with
the existing network of
* pipelines, refineries and transport systems.
Expectations
The company expects to be at
* commercial demonstration scale in 2015,
* commercial scale in 2018,
* and is eventually projected to
produce 1 billion gallons per year by 2025.
Sapphire Energy, Inc.,
Cynthia 'CJ' Warner, CEO and Chairman
- In under a year, Sapphire Energy has entered into
contracts with 2 major companies in the oil and gas industry,
showing that there is increasing momentum for
algae fuel as a viable crude oil alternative, and
significant interest by refiners
to have new and better options to meet
* California Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) and
* the federal Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS).
- We're looking forward to building a strong relationship
with Phillips 66, an established leader
in research and development for next generation fuels,
who understands the opportunity
our Green Crude Oil holds as a feasible and sustainable
crude oil choice for refiners.
Phillips 66,
Merl Lindstrom, Vice President of Technology,
- Phillips 66 is committed to providing energy and
improving lives. We are continually on the lookout
for promising technology advances
in energy manufacturing and logistics.
- We believe this joint development project with
Sapphire Energy could produce a refinery-ready,
sustainable product for Phillips 66, creating yet
another exciting opportunity
in this rapidly changing energy landscape.
- Combining Phillips 66's experience in
algae research and technical experstise
in hydroprocessing and fuels upgrading
with Sapphire Energy's algae cultivation knowledge
could yield a promising results.
- This new relationship with Sapphire Energy
complements other Phillips 66 renewable fuels
collaborations in academia and other sectors
to convert a wide array of sustainable feedstocks
to transportation fuels.
- The company's biofuels platform is
one piece of a technology strategy that
also includes research and development of
fuel cells and solar cells.
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