"Founded in 2003 and headquartered in South San Francisco, California, Solazyme is a leading biotechnology company focused on synthetic biology for the renewable bioproduction of fuels, industrial oleochemicals, and health and wellness ingredients from marine microbes" (Solazyme.). "Building a relationship with Chevron Technology Ventures is an important step toward commercialization of Solazyme's technology which fits cleanly into Chevron's existing refining and fuels distribution infrastructure." said Jonathan Wolfson, chief executive officer of Solazyme (Solazyme.).
"Sapphire Energy in San Diego is planning to build a demonstration station in Las Cruces, N.M. The startup has raised more than $100 million from investors, including Bill Gates's Cascade Investments LLC firm and ARCH Venture Partners" (Le).
"GreenFuel Technologies in Cambridge, Mass., announced plans last month to build greenhouses in Spain to produce 25,000 tons of algae biomass a year with partner Aurantia SA" (Le). "In the Seattle area, startup Bionavitas is testing a process to bring light deeper below the surface, solving the problem of algae shading out growth below the initial top layer" (Le). "PetroAlgae, based in Melbourne, Fla., plans to complete a 20-acre demonstration farm early next year, said Fred Tennant, the company's executive vice president of business development" (Le). | 
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All of these companies have moved past experimentation and are now to the point of actually doing what they were established to do: produce algal biodiesel. "We are far beyond proof of concept," said Harrison Dillon, co-founder of Solazyme, which grows algae in the dark by feeding it biomass such as woodchips. "The test at hand is to bring the manufacturing cost down." (Le)
Dillon said the company is about 24 to 36 months away from hitting its target manufacturing cost of $2 to $3 a gallon, or $40 to $80 a barrel (Le).
There would be a profound effect on the economy if this can be achieved. A cheap fuel would allow industry to conduct business at a low price and do so cleanly and efficiently.
