A host of startup companies are pursuing new technologies that they claim will soon lead to large-scale commercialization of biofuels made from algae. But questions remain about the viability and environmental benefits of what its developers are calling “green crude.” (more…)

When it comes to navigating the advanced biofuels’ winding pathway to commercialization, no company is faring better than Solazyme. Whether delivering biojet fuel for commercial flights or producing hundreds of thousands of gallons of advanced fuels to help the U.S. Navy launch its Green Strike Force in 2016, Solazyme has been on a marketing tear. (more…)

A U.S. startup says it has raised enough funding to significantly expand what it calls the world’s first commercial-scale algae biofuel farm, a 300-acre project its developers say could produce 1.5 million gallons of algae-based crude oil by 2014.

Sapphire Energy, which so far has received more (more…)