May 5, 2020

We have lots of sunshine and warm days here in New Mexico which is really conducive to algae cultivation. New Mexico has a very rich history in algae cultivation that goes back to the late 1970’s.

It all started with the Aquatic Species Program in Artesia, New Mexico that was funded by the Department of Energy under President Jimmy Carter. The DOE had decided to look at micro algae as a renewable fuel source to produce oil (drop in fuels). The program would end in 1996, but during that time they had studied hundreds of strains of algae, and some would prove worthy for fuel production years later.

Why algae for oil? What should be asked is where does oil come from? Over millions of year’s dead organic matter, such as algae dropped to the bottom of our oceans. Over the years mud and sand formed layers which created pressure, and the heat from inside the earth formed oil. This is an extremely simplified explanation, but it gives you an idea. With the study of algae as a fuel source it makes perfect sense as certain algae strains have higher levels of lipids (oil) in them. We are also eliminating millions of years of waiting around for oil to form. One thing that I want to make clear all these algae for fuel facilities use brackish water to cultivate with. No fresh water was used. Another reason New Mexico was a favored location.

Move forward to 2008, Sapphire Energy a San Diego based company built its R&D facility outside of Las Cruses, New Mexico a few years later they would start producing “green crude” from algae. At their peak they were able to produce 100 barrels a day that was being tested with the navies green fleet in Hawaii, and with several airlines. I was lucky enough to have visited the facility and witness the remarkable work that they were doing. It was amazing to see and smell the algae oil; it blew me away, a renewable energy source from algae! Unfortunately the business model made sense at $150.00 a barrel, once a barrel dropped to $60.00 because of fracking Sapphire ceased to exist.

The Sapphire facility has since been purchased by Qualitas, which know cultivates algae for Omega 3s under the brand name IWI. Remember fish obtain Omega 3s by eating algae, so no fish are killed in the whole process which is a bonus. Around the same period of Sapphire we had several smaller companies, such as Eldorado Biofuels from Santa Fe. They were utilizing treated industrial waste water from the oil fracking wells that we have in South Eastern New Mexico to cultivate algae to produce bio-fuel.

As you just read New Mexico has been the center of algae cultivation in the United States for many years. It has not all been about fuel production, we currently have folks cultivating algae as an organic soil amendment for the Cannabis industry, and of course spirulina as people fuel.

I hope you found this an informative history lesson on algae. It’s a bit different then what I usually write. After sharing this story with a dear friend she suggested I write a blog post about it, so voila.

Stay healthy everyone,

Nicholas