January 16, 2012

OriginOil, DOE work on algae conversion

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 15 (UPI) -- OriginOil says it will partner with the Idaho National Laboratory to develop an improved process for converting algae into biomass fuel.

The Los Angeles company, which extracts oil from algae and converts it into a renewable fuel usable by petroleum refineries, will work with the U.S. Department of Energy's research facility to create better biofuels to supplement the country's reliance on crude oil. Development of the system could help the algae-growing industry to enter the global crude oil market.

The agreement, announced Friday, will integrate OriginOil's algae harvesting system with state-of-the-art biomass processing technology to convert raw algae into biofuel.

Algae biomass has the potential to be a promising alternative source of raw material for renewable biofuel, a company spokesman said.

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