Shell announces plans to make biodiesel from algae
Thu 13 December 2007
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Shell has announced plans to convert marine algae into biofuel in a joint venture with Hawaii-based HR Biopetroleum. A small research-scale plant will initially be built but Shell says it hopes to move to full scale production.
Shell aims to achieve yields of about 60 tonnes of fuel per hectare a year. The company says that algae can double their mass several times a day and produce 15 times more fuel per hectare than rapeseed, a typical first-generation biodiesel feedstock.
The Financial Times reports that the two companies did not reveal the size of the investment, only that Shell will have a majority stake in the company, called Cellana.
Shell has focused its efforts on 'second-generation' fuels that can be produced from non-food plants or plant waste. The company argues that government support for biofuels should, in general, give greater incentives to biofuels producing higher greenhouse gas savings.
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