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Alternative Energy - Friday, May 30, 2008

Sapphire Energy Raises $50M In First Round For Eco-friendly Crude

We keep telling those who are glum about global warming that help is on the way.

San Diego's Sapphire Energy says it plans to turn algae into oil, creating a clean fuel that can be used in unmodified cars and trucks. Sapphire and its alter-brand Green Crude Production, explains that it is using algae, sunlight, non-potable water and carbon dioxide to make a green crude that it boasts is the chemical equivalent of sweet crude oil. Moreover, production costs per barrel will be similar to petroleum-based fuel.

The company has raised $50M in funding from Wellcome Trust, a British charity, the world's second richest medical charity after the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, as well as Arch Venture Partners and Venrock. Sapphire's technology was developed collaborations with Scripps Research Institute, UC San Diego, the University of Tulsa and the Energy Department's Joint Genome Project.

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