A Mini-Cluster of Algae-to-Biofuels Technology Blooms in San Diego

the field, who specializes in photoplankton at UCSD’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

—Sapphire Energy, a La Jolla startup with VC backing from Bill Gates and Arch Venture Partners, says it has proven the feasibility of using algae to make “green crude” that can serve as a substitute for crude oil.

—Synthetic Genomics, a La Jolla venture founded by J. Craig Venter, specializes in using genetically modified microbes to address global energy and environmental challenges.

—Genomatica, a San Diego-based venture, has developed a pioneering process that uses genetically modified bacteria to make a rubberized plastic known as 1,4-butanediol, or BDO, to replace petroleum-based feedstock used in chemical engineering and manufacturing.

—General Atomics, a private government contractor best known for developing the Predator UAV, recently landed a $19.9 million Pentagon contract to develop ways of making jet fuel from algae. The company began working on biofuels research about two years ago.

—SAIC, another San Diego defense contractor, also got a $14.9 million Pentagon contract to find ways of making jet fuel from algae. Both contracts were awarded by DARPA, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, as the Pentagon seeks ways to reduce its $6 billion annual fuel bill.

—HRBiopetroleum, based in La Jolla, has established algae-to-biofuels operations in Hawaii. The company uses marine microalgae to produce vegetable oils and other biofuel-related products.

—Earthrise Farms, the 108-acre facility near El Centro, CA, operated by Earthrise Nutritionals of Irvine, CA, grows Spirulina, a microalgae used in food, biochemistry, and pharmaceuticals

—Carbon Capture is a La Jolla-based company developing new ways for using algae to absorb carbon dioxide emissions from electric power plants. The company operates a 160-acre site for a proposed 46-megawatt ultra-low emission natural gas power generation facility.

Pages: Page 1, Page 2

Author: Bruce V. Bigelow

In Memoriam: Our dear friend Bruce V. Bigelow passed away on June 29, 2018. He was the editor of Xconomy San Diego from 2008 to 2018. Read more about his life and work here. Bruce Bigelow joined Xconomy from the business desk of the San Diego Union-Tribune. He was a member of the team of reporters who were awarded the 2006 Pulitzer Prize in National Reporting for uncovering bribes paid to San Diego Republican Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham in exchange for special legislation earmarks. He also shared a 2006 award for enterprise reporting from the Society of Business Editors and Writers for “In Harm’s Way,” an article about the extraordinary casualty rate among employees working in Iraq for San Diego’s Titan Corp. He has written extensively about the 2002 corporate accounting scandal at software goliath Peregrine Systems. He also was a Gerald Loeb Award finalist and National Headline Award winner for “The Toymaker,” a 14-part chronicle of a San Diego start-up company. He takes special satisfaction, though, that the series was included in the library for nonfiction narrative journalism at the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University. Bigelow graduated from U.C. Berkeley in 1977 with a degree in English Literature and from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in 1979. Before joining the Union-Tribune in 1990, he worked for the Associated Press in Los Angeles and The Kansas City Times.