Under the agreement, OriginOil and INL will partner to establish industry standards for algal biomass, a critical step toward making algal biofuels a competitive alternative to petroleum.
Under the terms of the new Cooperative Research and Development agreement, OriginOil will provide INL with its Single Step Extraction technology, and contribute its knowledge of how to stimulate oil production and pre-treat for consistent extraction of the algae and its co-products.
INL Biofuels and Renewable Energy Department Molecular Biologist Deborah Newby said INL develops tests and deploys advanced renewable energy technology, including research on algae.
"This agreement is to assist OriginOil by conducting evaluations of processes and technologies that may help find solutions to converting algae into energy feedstocks more efficiently, by optimizing and standardizing various formats," Newby said.
OriginOil technology senior vice president Paul Reep said the company aims to develop standards for the industry in partnership with the US Department of Energy will set the stage for a multi-source system that depends heavily on algae.
INL is a science-based, applied engineering national laboratory dedicated to supporting the DOE on energy research and national defense.
