Shell bets on algae to make biodiesel

Royal Dutch Shell hopes to build a commercial plant producing biodiesel from algae in two years' time
from Financial Times (ft.com)
By Ed Crooks
Published: December 12 2007 02:00

The joint venture, with Hawaii-based HR Biopetroleum, will initially build a small research plant but hopes to move to a full-scale commercial plant of 20,000 hectares. Shell said it expected yields of about 60 tonnes of oil per hectare a year, meaning a full-scale plant would produce 1.2m tonnes of oil a year.

The two companies did not reveal the size of the investment, but Shell will have a majority stake in the company, called Cellana.

Shell has held back from production of first-generation biofuels such as ethanol and biodiesel from vegetable oil, focusing on second-generation fuels that can be produced from non-food plants or plant waste. It has argued that government support for biofuels ought to give greater incentives to second-generation products on the grounds they are likely to have much better environmental performance, particularly in cutting carbon dioxide emissions.

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