Inventure Chemical Turns Algae Into Biodiesel Fuel
“A Tacoma startup by the name of Inventure Chemical has raised about $1.5 million to continue development on a chemical process that turns algae into biodiesel and ethanol.
The company has created the algae-based fuel in five- to 10-gallon “bench tests,” with the latest capital infusion to be used to see if the fuel can be produced on a larger scale. It plans to set up a test plant to see if it could produce 3 million to 15 million gallons of biofuel each year. The company has processed a wide variety of algae strains, both from freshwater and saltwater species, Santella said. He said the company hopes to test the fuel in city buses in the near future.
Inventure was started by Mark Tegen, the former general manager of Pacific Fluids and a current member of the Washington State Department of Agriculture Biofuels Advisory Committee. Tegen was traveling and could not be reached for comment. In a statement on the Inventure Web site announcing the financing, Tegen said that the company’s technology has generated a “good deal of excitement in sustainable energy circles.”
“Not only is algae feedstock much more cost-effective than other biofuel feedstocks; with our patent pending process, it also yields extremely high yield biodiesel and ethanol,” he said.
Inventure employs about five people, with Santella saying that the company plans to move to Seattle in the coming months.”