Partnering with Solazyme of San Francisco, EERE enabled the company to increase its production of algal oil by a factor of 10. In December 2011, the U.S. Navy's Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) announced that it would purchase 450,000 gallons of Solazyme's advanced "drop-in" jet fuel made from algal oil—the largest U.S. government purchase of biofuels to date. The Navy demonstrated the fuel in the Green Strike Group exercises in the Pacific in summer 2012, and by 2013, plans to deploy a Great Green Fleet powered entirely by alternative fuels.

Positive Impact

EERE's investment allowed Solazyme to increase its algal oil production by a factor of 10, leading to the U.S. Navy's purchase of 450,000 gallons of "drop-in" jet fuel.

Location

San Francisco, California

Partners

Solazyme

EERE Investment

$21.8 million

Clean Energy Sector

Sustainable transportation

The Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) works with a broad spectrum of industrial, academic, agricultural, and nonprofit partners across the United States to develop and deploy commercially viable, high-performance biofuels, bioproducts, and biopower from renewable biomass resources in America to reduce our dependence on imported oil.

The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) success stories highlight the positive impact of its work with businesses, industry partners, universities, research labs, and other entities.