Seambiotic USA and NASA Glenn Research Center Collaborating on Large Scale Microalgae Process Optimization for Algae-Derived Aviation Fuel

6 July 2009

Seambiotic USA, the US subsidiary of Israel-based Seambiotic, has entered into an agreement with NASA Glenn Research Center to develop an on-going collaborative R&D program for optimization of open-pond microalgae growth processes.

Under a non-reimbursable Space Act Agreement noted in Congressional testimony in March 2009, NASA is partnering with Seambiotic, Inc. to reduce biomass process cost. The goal of the Space Act Agreement is to make use of NASA’s expertise in large scale computational modeling and combine it with Seambiotic’s biological process modeling to make significant advances.

Under the Agreement, NASA Glenn and Seambiotic USA will work together to improve production processes and to study and qualify algae oil from alternative species and production processes as candidate aviation fuel at NASA’s test facilities.

Seambiotic was founded in 2003 to grow and process marine microalgae for the nutraceutical and biofuel industries. Seambiotic’s research efforts include a pilot study at an Israeli Electric Corporation power station near the city Ashkelon, Israel, where various species of marine microalgae have been successfully cultivated using the power station’s CO2 emissions released directly from their smokestacks; the microalgae are in turn used as feedstock for biofuel.

The company is currently in transition from the pilot plant stage to large scale industrial algae cultivation and production.