Aurora
Biofuels Inc. has received a big leg up in the race to
develop commercial biodiesel using algae as a feedstock. The startup
said Wednesday it landed $20 million in a second round
of funding from insiders Oak Investment Partners, Gabriel Venture
Partners and Noventi, which will allow it to tweak its open pond
process for growing algae for processing into biodiesel. With total
funding of $25 million, Aurora joins GreenFuel Technologies Corp. among
the best-funded companies developing algae as feedstock for biofuels,
although the companies are pursuing very different business models.
GreenFuel, which raised $13.9 million in a third round
last month to bring total equity funding to $27.6 million, grows algae
in a closed pond system. Aurora's technology is relatively
straightforward on the aquaculture side, and its core intellectual
property comes from the lab, where UC Berkely microbial biology
professor Tasios Melis developed a genetically modified strain of algae
that produces extemely high yield in open ponds. GreenFuel's ambitious
aquaculture approach comes from MIT and involves partnering with waste
gas producers to increase yield by infusing closed pond algae crops
with carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. That can boost
yield, producing a potential added benefit of reducing waste gas at the
source.
Algae has been touted by many as the best source
for biofuels based on its unparalleled ability to photosynthesize solar
energy into plant biomass for food, and there are currently more than a
dozen biotechnology and processing companies
developing the crop for bioffuels. Unlike most plants, algae shares
characteristics with bacteria, and its photosynthetic machinery
operates much faster in converting inorganic substances into organic
matter. And whether in closed or open pond systems, the growing
environment for algae is largely controlled by farmers and can be
located anywhere without sacrificing farmland otherwise
usable for food crops.-- Clifford Carlsen
See June 10 press release from Aurora Biofuels Inc.
See May 14 post from TechConfidential
See March 27 story from earth2tech
For more see biofuelsdigest, cleantech blog and biomass news
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