Algae biofuels tempt Exxon enough to invest $600M

Exxon has openly rejected renewable energy for years, claiming that past experiments with alternative sources of energy were not successful. But given the pressures of the current market, that stance has shifted with a $600M investment in algae-biofuels that will fund research by Synthetic Genomics, Inc.

Synthetic Genomics is a biotech firm that specializes in “genomic-driven commercial solutions to revolutionize many of industries,” according to its web site. Essentially that sounds like experimenting with nature’s building blocks to create a life form that produces what we need. But how does algae translate into energy?

The specifics of what technology will be shared between Exxon and Synthetic Genomics isn’t clear, but representatives have indicated that they’ll be exploring various techniques for extracting oil and other compounds from algae and potentially finding a way to ramp up production to a mass scale. Emil Jacobs, Vice President of research and development at Exxon says:

As far as products to expect from this program, our intent is to make hydrocarbons that look a lot like today's transportation fuels. We want to produce hydrocarbons that look like today's refinery products, that can go into a refinery to be processed along with other petroleum streams and then used in the transportation fleet or even jet fuel. And we think we've got a good chance of doing that. According to The New York Times.

As expected, Exxon is very interested in preserving the existing oil infrastructure and if it can extract biofuels from a source that’s renewable and green like algae then opponents will be hard pressed to criticize.

With this investment Exxon has expressed an interest in helping to control the global outpouring of greenhouse emissions and perhaps curbing the global warming trend. Those words always sound good, but this time Exxon has put its money where its mouth is.

Oil companies may continue with an overall lackluster response until legislation catches up and pressures them to produce energy from renewable sources with a combination of incentives and penalties.