OriginOil, Inc. (OTCBB: OOIL), a developer of algae-based fuels, has signed a research agreement with The U.S. Department of Energy's Idaho National Laboratory (INL) to focus on validation and commercial scaling of the company’s technology.
The initial phase of the research program, which starts immediately, will focus on the collaborative development of an energy balance model for photobioreactor-based algae systems. OriginOil expects to use this model in the optimization of its algae-to-oil technology as early as 1Q09.
Subsequent phases will center on validation of the OriginOil processes and piloting specific commercial applications.
Thomas H. Ulrich, PhD, Advisory Scientist for INL’s Biofuels and Renewable Energy department, said: “Our primary challenge is cost-effective and scalable industrial processes and our partnership with OriginOil will help us find solutions to this challenge in the promising area of algae-to-oil technology. Partnerships with innovators like OriginOil will accelerate our pursuit of national energy independence initiatives.”
In operation since 1949, the Idaho National Laboratory (www.inl.gov) is a science-based, applied engineering national laboratory dedicated to supporting the Department of Energy (DOE) on energy research and national defense. Its mission is to ensure the nation's energy security with safe, competitive and sustainable energy systems and unique national and homeland security capabilities.
