Hawaiian Company Converts Agriwaste to Oil with Algae
In a collaborative research project with the US Dept of Agriculture Pacific Basin Agricultural Research Center (USDA-PBARC) and Rivertop Solutions, a Hawaii-based system engineering and economic development firm, Hawaiian company BioTork has attempted convert agricultural by-products into high value oils with the help of microbes including algae. The company has used unmarketable Hawaiian papayas to produce fatty acids, which could be further refined into biofuels.
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BioTork has developed novel strains of algae and mushrooms, which can eat papaya culls and convert the sugars in that waste into high value oils suitable for the production of advanced drop in green diesel and jet fuel.
BioTork and PBARC have the capacity to turn an economic liability for Hawaiian papaya farmers into a high value co-product while addressing at the same time the need for domestic production of renewable non-petroleum-based biofuel. PBARC is taking the process a step further by conducting tests to use the meal (de-oiled algae and mushroom) as a high protein feed for fish. Tests are scheduled to start in 2012. In parallel, Rivertop Solutions is identifying all the agricultural by-products in Hawaii that can be used as a feedstock for biofuel production, and assessing the potential positive impacts on Hawaiian farmers and energy security of Hawaiian military.
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