Comments on: Craig Venter: Without Scale, Algae Fuel Companies "Playing"

By: SteveK9

SteveK9 — Sat, 02 Oct 2010 14:28:04 +0000

Biofuels of whatever type are nonsense. In 20 years it will be obvious that mankind’s energy will come from nuclear in this century and for many after. This will not be led by the US or the Europe but by Asia.

By: Investors Fuel Solazyme With $52M for Algae

Investors Fuel Solazyme With $52M for Algae — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 15:04:07 +0000

[...] these algae fuel companies aren’t able to reach commercialization, as Craig Venter put it once: they are “just playing” and “wasting investors money.” Basically the algae companies need [...]

By: Carbon capturing Algae Oil 101

Carbon capturing Algae Oil 101 — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 01:05:03 +0000

Hey great article! I have recently wrote an article that discusses the progress made by two algae bio fuel companies. Check it out! New Technology goes through three stages:
First it is ridiculed by those ignorant of its potential
Next, it is subverted by those threatened by its potential
Finally, it is considered self-evident.
This article is in response to an Oil Drum article linked below.
Take a look at the article to get a good understanding on how I shaped my response.
http://www.theoildrum.com/node/5440
The Oil Drum article may have been relevant when published back in may of 2009 but many of these limitations have and will be overcome by advances in technology, along with increases in private and public investments. With global investment in carbon capturing in the billions, the race has been set to see which companies can emerge as technology leaders. The companies that do succeed will only realize success when they integrate their technologies with one another to create a superior technology. These integrations will help push the industry forward and eventually will create a paradigm shift in carbon capturing.
The scenario for success I just explained, closely resembles Origin Oil and MBD Energy’s current relationship. Many are ignorant and threatened by the potential of capturing carbon to produce biofuel, they simply say “It can not be done.” Step one and two regarding phases of new technology complete. The oil drum article vaguely communicated to readers the failure of Green Fuel and with Green Fuel’s failure tried to subvert their audience into believing if one fails, they all fail! This notion that if one fails all fails holds very little weight. Present day knowledge and opportunities to turn carbon into a viable fuel source has become self evident.
When a technology becomes self evident it has reached it’s final stage, commercialization. This stage has been evolving the past year with major R&D projects being funded by the largest publicly traded oil companies in the world. Bp, Shell, Royal Dutch and the biggest investor of them all Exxon Mobil are all in the race. The big boys now consider these technologies self evident and see the need to invest in order to secure their competitive advantage amongst one another. It is only a matter of time before we see the first industrial scale carbon capturing plant that can produce algae as a biofuel. In my opinion MBD Energy and Origin Oil, through the integration of their technologies, will be the first to achieve this amazing feat.
Origin Oil’s market strategy is unique because they look to integrate their technologies with other thriving companies to establish a competitive advantage. They were voted by BiofuelDigest.com top 30 most transformative technologies in 2010. Their portfolio consisting of 10 patent pending technologies are crucial to their success and are regarded to as industry game changers. CEO Riggs Eckleberry and CTO Dr. Brian Goodall combine for over 50 years of networking and industry experience. Origin Oil’s ability to create synergy between them selves and existing biofuel companies by integrating technologies will serve them well in the long run. This unique market entry strategy will drive their industry growth and will enable them to become industry leaders in technology innovation and integration.

By: PHOTOS: Exxon, Synthetic Genomics Open Algae Test Facility

PHOTOS: Exxon, Synthetic Genomics Open Algae Test Facility — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 20:57:37 +0000

[...] these efficient algae strains economically at scale is the real challenge. As Venter has said if algae fuel companies can’t generate billions of gallons of fuel, then they are “just [...]

By: Amyris IPO Update: DOE Funds Roll In, Losses Top $136M

Amyris IPO Update: DOE Funds Roll In, Losses Top $136M — Wed, 26 May 2010 22:17:08 +0000

[...] founder (and artificial life creator) Craig Venter put it earlier this year, biofuel companies are “just playing” and “wasting investors’ money” unless they can generate billions of gallons of fuel (Venter referred in his comments specifically [...]

By: Craig Venter Is Now God & How That Affects Climate Change

Craig Venter Is Now God & How That Affects Climate Change — Thu, 20 May 2010 19:34:53 +0000

[...] Venter is well aware — and has repeatedly stated — the major hurdle for his algae fuel project will be scale. If algae fuel companies can’t [...]

By: Amyris’ Total Funds Reach $244M, Still Not Commercial

Amyris’ Total Funds Reach $244M, Still Not Commercial — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 15:00:39 +0000

[...] Comments 0 As Synthetic Genomics founder and geneticist guru Craig Venter said recently, if biofuel companies don’t generate billions of gallons of fuel then they’re just [...]

By: Solazyme's amazing algae | Marc Gunther

Solazyme's amazing algae | Marc Gunther — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 11:47:56 +0000

[...] are so good at producing oil from sunlight and carbon dioxide that there are, by some accounts, as many as 200 companies trying to make biofuels from algae. Some are obscure, little more than a [...]

By: anonymous

anonymous — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 16:20:10 +0000

Algae researchers have spent over $2.5 billion dollars in grants (taxpayer money) and have not commercialized anything. All ponds have contamination issues and will never be used for industrial scale up. We are wasting money on ponds that will never work.

The commercial scale vertical PBR's will be used for industrial growing of algae. They have very little contamination if any and are currently generating almost 500,000 gallons per acre per year in algae biomass.

By: Alternative Energy For Dummies | The Green Life

Alternative Energy For Dummies | The Green Life — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 20:34:00 +0000

[...] Craig Venter: Without Scale, Algae Fuel Companies “Playing” [...]