MAX ONE will visit algae producers to test their strains, demonstrate effectiveness
Los Angeles, CA May 20, 2010 – OriginOil, Inc. (OOIL), the developer of a breakthrough technology to transform algae, the most promising source of renewable oil, into a true competitor to petroleum, announced today that it recently launched MAX ONE, its first mobile algae extraction laboratory. A private party of investors and supporters celebrated the unveiling at the company’s headquarters in Los Angeles.
The trailer-based system will visit algae producing companies in the US to demonstrate how OriginOil’s Single Step Extraction™ process can help them harvest their algae efficiently and cost-effectively. The system is capable of extracting oil from algae at a rate of five gallons per minute, enough to demonstrate feasibility to potential customers.
“Algae can’t succeed as a biofuel without an economical and energy-efficient way to harvest it,” said Riggs Eckelberry, CEO of OriginOil. “That’s why algae companies are eager to test our process as soon as possible. Now we can pull up in the trailer, process their algae, and analyze it for them on the spot.”
MAX ONE was launched on May 17th in front of an audience of invited investors and supporters who toured the mobile system and applauded the OriginOil technology team. Photos and video of the unveiling can be found on the MAX One event page.
This is more than just a strategy to sell more extraction systems, said Eckelberry. “Every algae strain out there has its own extraction profile, and there are thousands of strains,” he said. “This is a great chance to document all the different strains which will help us roll out through partners worldwide.”
While it is currently working with pioneering producers, OriginOil plans to work in the future through country and regional partners, as well as specialized manufacturers and service organizations worldwide.
On May 18th, Eckelberry participated in an industry panel at the sold-out Algae World Summit, a conference that is focused on the algae value chain and which OriginOil helped to create. He reported on the launch of MAX ONE and on the effort to document algae strains. He called for closer industry collaboration, focusing less on the differences between companies than on their shared need to get algae production scaled up quickly to meet fast-expanding demand.
July 26, 2010 at 9:28 PM
After reading a recent June 22 article titled: Investing in Carbon Capture link shown below
http://www1.voanews.com/policy/editorials/Investing-In-Carbon-Capture-96891174.html#comments,
I have realized that the carbon capturing industry is moving fast, so fast, that just one month ago outdated methods of carbon capture and storage have been talked about as a realistic form of investment for carbon capturing. Note to the author: New technologies have been integrated and are emerging to offer new opportunities for those looking to invest in Carbon Capture.
This article starts off by stating,
“Capturing carbon dioxide emissions from sources, such as large power plants, and storing those emissions away from the atmosphere is an important means of mitigating environmental damage caused by the burning of fossil fuels.” The article then goes on later to say, “Capturing carbon emissions and storing them underground is a crucial technology as we build a clean energy future and address the threat of climate change,” said Secretary Chu.” Yes it mitigates environmental damage, I agree, but storing carbon underground serves no purpose economically and racks up a long list of costs and liabilities. Transferring Co2 via pipeline hundreds if not thousands of miles underground to store in a “secure” underground facility serves the world as a whole, very little purpose and contains a high level of risk. Creating and maintaining the facility is the only job creation that comes from this method of storing carbon underground. Creating jobs only for engineering firms and big bucked CEO’s. Followed by a small trickle down effect realized by employers in a vertically integrated system and temporary sales growth for suppliers. To truly benefit from carbon capture, we have to take the storage part out of the equation and replace it with product creation. The job creation and value chain that will result from this new method of carbon capturing will revolutionize the industry. A producer to consumer supply and demand chain will be created, new jobs will result and new markets will evolve
Recent technology integrations from Australian company MBD Energy and the United States own Origin Oil has created new investment opportunities for those ready to cash in on carbon capture for profit. The two companies are well on their way to developing the worlds first carbon capturing system that has the ability to capture carbon and instead of storing the emissions underground, they temporarily store the emissions in algal synthesizers and bioreactors to support the growth of algae. The algae is then cultured and separated using Origin Oil’s patent pending single step extraction unit to produce bio-fuel and animal feed stock that can be sold as commodities on the open market. MBD Energy recently had their integrated test facility evaluated by Australian innovation leader Senator Carr. The inspections resulted in a 5 million dollar boost in funding to expand MBD Energy’s facilities. This 5 million dollar grand will be matched by MBD Energy and will allow them to expand to a one hectare pilot project plant expected to be completed by end of the first quarter 2011.
With early technology integration test trials receiving additional funding the future looks bright for MBD Energy and Origin Oil. These early trial successes have led to great optimism for both companies. The ability for both companies to profit from their current position and become industry leaders in carbon capturing seems highly probable and very likely to succeed. Speculation however still looms on this particular project. The question that still remains is can this method be done on a mass industrial scale? I believe that if it can be done on a small scale it can be engineered to be done on a large scale but only time will tell. Please let me know what you think, leave your thoughts, concerns and further insight on this topic in the comment box below.
References;
1)http://www1.voanews.com/policy/editorials/Investing-In-Carbon-Capture-96891174.html?refresh=1
2)http://www.jcu.edu.au/blogs/atjcu/entry/innovative_algae_to_fuel_project
3)http://www.originoil.com/company-news/originoil-announces-its-first-customer.html
4)http://www.mbdenergy.com/catalogue/c17/c33/p243