A US company, Renewable Energy Group, claimed yesterday (19th August) that it now has a scalable, commercial, technology capable of refining and producing large volumes of high quality algae biodiesel. In the announcement the company said that it has implemented technology to refine the oil from a variety of algae strains and produce algae biodiesel exceeding ASTM standards.

With the technology now available we are looking to initiate additional partnerships for commercial-scale production of algae biodiesel at volumes comparable to those from other vegetable and animal feedstocks now in use, explained Chief Operating Officer Daniel Oh, who oversees technology and research and development programs for the company.

"Commercial demonstration of algae biodiesel at this level is a major step forward for the industry," Oh said. "By defining the processing parameters for larger volumes of algae oil, we can process the algae oil using REG’s commercial scale production technology like any other feedstock out there today."

"REG’s successful demonstration of technologies presents the flexibility and opportunity for it to partner with almost any algae-oil supplier for biodiesel," explained Research and Development Manager Glen Meier. "Universal compatibility is the fastest means to procure the volumes of feedstock needed for large-scale commercialization."