Shell and HR Biopetroleum, a US developer of microalgae production technology, have formed a joint venture company called Cellana for the project.

The two companies said the project holds promise because algae grows rapidly, is rich in vegetable oil and can be cultivated in ponds of seawater, minimising the use of farming land and fresh water.

Construction of the demonstration facility will begin immediately.

The plant will grow non-modified, marine microalgae species native to Hawaii in open-air ponds. Once the algae is harvested, the vegetable oil will be extracted and converted into biofuel.

An advantage of algae is its rapid growth - it can double in mass several times a day and produce at least 15 times more oil per hectare than alternatives such as rape seed, palm soya or jatropha. Moreover, facilities can be built on coastal land unsuitable for conventional agriculture.

Over the long term, algae cultivation facilities also have the potential to absorb or capture CO2 emissions directly from industrial facilities such as power plants.

The Cellana demonstration facility will use bottled CO2 to explore this potential.

"Algae have great potential as a sustainable feedstock for production of diesel-type fuels with a very small CO2 footprint," said Graeme Sweeney from Shell.

"This demonstration will be an important test of the technology and, critically, of commercial viability."

An academic research program will support the project, screening natural microalgae species to determine which ones produce the highest yields and the most vegetable oil.

The program will include scientists from the Universities of Hawaii, Southern Mississippi and Dalhousie, in Nova Scotia, Canada.

EnvironmentalManagementNews.net