Sapphire Energy, Inc.
Sapphire is leading the new industrial category of Green Crude production profoundly altering the petrochemical landscape for the better.
News Coverage
Top 50 VC-Funded Greentech Startups:Greentech Media announces the top 50 startups in greentech
GTM StaffVenture capital firms have invested almost $20 billion into hundreds of greentech startups since 2005. All of these firms are looking to launch a disruptive force into their target markets, scale rapidly and grow quickly.
Very few of these firms will actually make it.
We put our energy analysts, reporters and editors to the task of picking fifty VC startups in greentech that have at least a fighting chance of succeeding as VC-funded startups and making an impact on our energy-intensive lives.
Algae Industry Magazine Interview: Sapphire Energy’s Tim Zenk
David SchwartzSapphire Energy began in 2007 with a debate between three friends: entrepreneur and bioengineer Jason Pyle; Kristina Burow, a chemist turned venture capitalist; and Nathaniel David, a biologist and serial company builder. Their issue under debate: “Why is the biofuel industry spending so much time and energy to manufacture ethanol — a fundamentally inferior fuel?” By the end of this debate, the seeds had been planted for a revolutionary biofuel company, with the goal to be the world’s leading producer of renewable petrochemical products.
Sapphire Energy addresses water use
Matt RobinsonSapphire Energy's planned biofuel refinery in Luna County will use water responsibly, the company says.
Tim Zenk, vice president of corporate affairs for the San Diego-based alternative fuel developer, said the facility's operations will resemble that of a rice paddy.
"Sort of an open pond setting," he said. "If you can imagine what a rice paddy looks like, but with much more technology."
In a nutshell, the facility will grow algae within ponds to refine into fuel. The planned open ponds at the facility has sparked concern among some locals on the chance for an ideal mosquito breeding ground. Zenk hopes to put those concerns down.
Biofuel Companies Attack Algae Study
Sindya N. BhanooIn a face-off between academia and industry, algae biofuel companies have made a joint statement decrying recent research that highlights algae’s drawbacks.
A study citing limitations of algae fuel production is being widely assailed by algae producers.
The research, published in the journal Environmental Science and Technology, found that algae production can be energy intensive and can end up emitting more greenhouse gases than it sequesters.
Algal Biomass Organization Questions Accuracy of University of Virginia Algae Life Cycle Study
ABO Believes That Reliance on Obsolete Data and Faulty Assumptions Undermines All Conclusions
WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Algal Biomass Organization (ABO), the trade association for the algae industry, today challenged the conclusions of a published report in Environmental Science and Technology claiming that “conventional crops have lower environmental impacts than algae in energy use, greenhouse gas emissions and water.” The report was based upon obsolete data and grossly outdated business models, and overlooked tremendous improvements in technology and processes across the production cycle. ABO believes strongly that these obsolete data and faulty assumptions seriously undermine the credibility of the study’s conclusions.
“We appreciate and support the interest in algae among the scientific community, and agree that examination of the life cycle impacts of algae for fuel processes is important”
“We appreciate and support the interest in algae among the scientific community, and agree that examination of the life cycle impacts of algae for fuel processes is important,” said Mary Rosenthal, executive director of ABO. “However, we expect such research to be based on current information, valid assumptions and proven facts. Unfortunately, this report falls short of those standards with its use of decades-old data and errant assumptions of current production and refining technologies.”
Green Gold: Researchers Say Algae May Someday Replace Fossil Fuels, But Major Hurdles Exist
John FleckDoug Lynn waxes poetic about the green glop he's growing in research ponds north of Carlsbad.
Lynn and others believe turning algae into biofuel has the potential to provide an important new source of energy for the United States, and a significant new economic engine for New Mexico. In fact, the federal government just placed a $100 million bet on it, to fund a pilot plant in southern New Mexico.
But experts who have worked in the field for decades say there are enormous technical hurdles to overcome before biofuel from algae is an economically viable alternative to fossil fuels.
Algae's attraction, enthusiasts say, comes from the fact that it grows fast. When well-bred, they say, the same organisms that create pond scum produce enormous quantities of fatty tissue within their little bodies. Fat equals stored energy, so when the glop is processed, you can get the equivalent of crude oil.
Green Gold?
John FleckBeginning some time late this year, a site in the Deming-Columbus area will be home to a bold experiment aimed at developing the next generation of renewable fuels: algae.
The project, a federal-private partnership headed by California-based Sapphire Energy, is an attempt to demonstrate the viability of growing algae in ponds and squeezing out the fatty tissues to make a drop-in replacement for crude oil-based fossil fuels.
"We call it 'green crude,'" Sapphire vice president Tim Zenk told me in an interview.
There is a lot of enthusiasm in New Mexico right now about the promise of what Zenk and other algae biofuel developers hope to achieve. But algae-based fuel production has a long history, a review of which suggests caution is in order this time 'round.
Algae can churn out oil: Feds dole out over $104 million to put the scum to work
Amy Lou JenkinsSapphire Energy can produce direct replacements for today's fuels from CO2 and sunshine. Sapphire Energy, a San Francisco based leader in algae-based fuel technology, recently received a big boost for groundbreaking energy work. They were awarded nearly $104.5 million as part of President Obama’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and the Biorefinery Assistance Program, authorized through the 2008 Farm Bill.
The grant is from the U.S. Dept. of Energy for the $50 million and the loan guarantee from the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture for $54.5 million.
Biofuels coming of age: Green crude gains ground in the desert in 2009
Kevin Robinson-AvilaSapphire Energy is helping to build a new industry in New Mexico, literally from the ground up.
The company will invest $100 million over the next two years in a 300-acre biofuel operation in Luna County in southern New Mexico that will convert desert-grown algae into more than 1 million gallons per year of gasoline, biodiesel and jet fuel.
In the long-term, Sapphire plans to expand the operation to 1,200 acres or more, employing thousands of workers in one of the state’s poorest counties, said CEO Jason Pyle.
Research Plus Innovation Propel Clean-Tech Growth in 2010
Andrea SiedsmaCLEAN TECHNOLOGY: Green to Gold, Expansion in Local Sector Promises Business Opportunities and Jobs
San Diego’s emerging clean technology cluster continues to help green the local economy. From solar power and wind technologies to clean transportation, smart sensors, energy-storage systems and biofuels, the region is chock-full of companies that are making great strides in sustainability as well as creating new jobs.
