Singapore: Algae.Tec, an advanced algae to biofuels company, has opened a new facility Shoalhaven One at Nowra, south of Sydney in Australia. The facility, first-of-its-kind in the country, is an advanced engineered algae to biofuels facility.

The facility will give the company a significant edge in business at a time when carbon tax is a hotly debated topic in Australia. Algae.Tec has a high-yield, enclosed and scalable algae growth and harvesting system, the McConchie-Stroud System. The facility is connected into the Manildra Group waste carbon dioxide, which is used in the algae growth process.

Algae.Tec Executive Chairman Mr Roger Stroud said this offered NSW and Australia energy security at a time when traditional fossil fuel companies were leaving the local market. "Algae.Tec offers the promise of home grown transport fuels (aviation and diesel), which is the number one energy security priority for countries like the USA and increasingly Australia," he said.

Founded in 2007, the company produces advanced renewable oil from algae. Australia is stressing on a carbon pricing scheme to reduce its carbon footprint. With the focus on clean energy, Algae.Tec technology to grow non-GMO algae on an industrial scale, and produce biofuels that replace predominantly imported fossil fuels can be the answer.

The technology has demonstrated exceptional performance in productivity, product yield, carbon dioxide sequestration, and production unit footprint requirements versus agricultural crops and other competitive algae processes in the industry.

Other countries such as China, Japan and the US and some European nations are also working towards carbon trading or taxation schemes at national, state or city levels. Algae.Tec offers a profitable solution for carbon emitting companies and industries seeking carbon dioxide reduction technologies. The algae growth system is an alternative to carbon capture.

New South Wales Minister for Resources and Energy the Honourable Chris Hartcher, MP, was present at the launch held in early August. A VIP crowd included executives from the University of Wollongong, the Manildra Group, the renewable energy investment community, shareholders and coal and biofuels association representatives. To officially commission the facility, Minister Hartcher activated the hi-tech lighting system that delivers the Algae.Tec super yield capabilities.

According to Algae.Tec, leading inspection, verification, testing and certification services company SGS will undertake a third party yield validation process at the facility.

Algae.Tec also recently recruited biofuels and aviation fuels specialist engineer Colin McGregor as general manager- project operations. The company is presently working on projects with Holcim Lanka, is into joint venture discussions in China, and has a manufacturing base in Atlanta, Georgia (US). It is also in talks with relevant firms in NSW, Brazil and the US.