Three Japanese companies of IHI Corporation, a biotechnology venture Gene and Gene Technology (G>) based in Osaka Prefecture, and the Neo-Morgan Laboratory Incorporated (NML) based in Kawasaki City announced July 7 that they would establish a joint company to be engaged in research and development (R&D) of biofuel production using algae. The new company will pursue the development of a mass production system using an algal species that offers the largest fuel production capacity in the world.
In the course of their growth, some varieties of algae produce oil that can be used as fuel. R&D for the practical application of related technologies have recently been carried out extensively in the United States and other countries. The algal species owned by G> is called “Enomoto Alga,” a variety improved by Professor Taira Enomoto of Kobe University and other researchers. It grows through photosynthesis absorbing carbon dioxide. It has the highest growth rate among all algal varieties that produce fuel, and multiplies in a month to an amount about 1,000 times more than that achieved by the original species before improvement.
The joint company will also incorporate NML’s experience in the industrial application of microorganisms as well as IHI’s design and construction technologies of bio-plants, and carry out R&D activities such as trial operation of a low-cost culture system, development of oil content separation and extraction methods, and further improvement of the Enomoto Alga variety. The company plans to begin with culturing algae in an extent of several dozen liters in the short term, and expand to several cubic meters in two years.
The new company will be called IHI NeoG Algae, and be capitalized at 260 million yen. IHI plans to invest 400 million yen including the capital during the first two years.
