Move Over Petroleum, Algae is Coming!

By Ed Martinez

Published in the Winter 2009 issue of MyTekLife Magazine

A new eco-friendly technology could soon replace petroleum. OriginOil, Inc. is developing an innovative technology that can transform algae into a renewable source of oil. MyTekLife caught up with Riggs Eckelberry, CEO of OriginOil and asked him about this new patent-pending technology.

The concept of cultivating algae for oil has been a challenging task for chemists for various reasons, according to Eckelberry. Perhaps the most arduous obstacle is how to go about introducing carbon dioxide and nutrients needed by the growing algae culture without disrupting it. Algae needs light to fuel its growth and oil production capabilities. It also has to be cracked at the cellular level to extract its oil, he explained.

OriginOil’s technology can overcome these challenges and produce “new oil” from algae through a cost-effective, high-speed manufacturing process. Each oil-producing cell can mature in just hours and contains as much as 60 percent of its dry weight in oil. OriginOil uses what it calls the Helix BioReactor system, an advanced algae growth system that can grow multiple layers of algae.

“We call it crude, without the tar,” Eckelberry said, adding that the new oil could be used in products such as gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, plastics and solvents without the adverse effects associated with petroleum.

OriginOil hopes this technology will change our source of oil without disrupting the environment. The company offers an alternative to drilling for oil by manufacturing clean oil that can meet current and future demands—and, perhaps most important, can eliminate the need to import oil. We could see this technology as soon as 2010.