ST2-05: Feedstock-flexible renewable oil production from heterotropohic algae using a proven, scalable system

Solazyme is a renewable oil production company. The company harnesses the power of microalgae to renewably produce clean and scalable high performance biofuels and renewable industrial chemicals.  Solazyme’s microbial conversion technology process allows algae to produce oil in standard fermentation facilities quickly, efficiently and at large scale.  These oils are tailored not only for biofuel production, but also as replacements for fossil petroleum and plant oils in a range of products running from household cleaning supplies to cosmetics and foods.  Solazyme’s oils provide compelling solutions to complex issues of fuel scarcity, energy security and environmental impact while fitting into the pre-existing multi-trillion dollar fuel infrastructure. A defined pathway to high production volumes is critical for a new technology to penetrate an industry producing million of barrels a day of products. Solazyme’s industrial fermentation has already been demonstrated at the commercial scale.
The company is currently producing thousands of gallons of oil at scale and has refined that oil into the world’s first algal based fuels that meet ASTM standards for biodiesel (ASTM D6751), renewable diesel (ASTM D975), and jet fuel (ASTM D1655).  Solazyme has road tested these fuels for thousands of miles in unmodified diesel engines.
Solazyme has pioneered the use of cellulosic feedstocks for microbial production of oil.  The company has used a combination of genetic engineering and high throughput screening technology to establish proof of concept through high efficiency fermentation on a range of feedstocks, including corn stover, bagasse, sugar cane, switchgrass, and beet pulp.