This is Part I of my three part Q & A with Mike Mendez, vice-president of technology at Sapphire Energy. In this part, Mendez talks about his background, the history and mission of Sapphire, how algae is turned into energy, and is goal to domesticate algae.
ROBERT GLUCK: What is your background and how did you arrive at Sapphire Energy?
MIKE MENDEZ: I’ve worked in pharmaceuticals, as a consultant and scientific adviser, and I’ve created several of my own start-up companies along the way.
The reason algae came into the picture was because a group of friends, who also happened to be scientists, saw a problem with the world’s diminishing fuel supply. Everything we do is affected by that supply – the car you drive, the clothing you wear, the food you eat – all of it is connected to our ability to have a reliable source of energy.
That is what the company was founded on; we wanted to profoundly change our global consumption of energy away from fossil fuels because where we are heading is not sustainable.
RG: What is the history and mission of Sapphire Energy?
MM: I'm actually a founder of Sapphire Energy. I worked with the other founders to validate that a better source of energy could be created. We didn’t come together as scientists to build an algae company. We came together to build an energy company, and we believed there had to be a better way then what our country was focused on at the time.
Our concept was the energy source could not compete with fresh water or agriculture, had to be infrastructure compliant, and needed to be something which could be scaled to meet the enormous demand for energy around the world. The source of energy had to be low carbon on a lifecycle basis as well.
This was an enormous challenge for us to undertake. I began my work borrowing an empty lab bench at Scripps in a lab run by Dr. Stephen Mayfield. We ended up a year later making the first 91 octane gasoline and Sapphire Energy was born.
RG: For our readers who don't know, how is algae turned into energy?
MM: It’s not a new idea. All fossil fuel came from algae that grew on our planet and died some 400 million years ago. It settled in the great basins of the world and through a process of pressure, heat and time became crude oil, coal and natural gas. We’re just speeding up the process though modern biotechnology. Most importantly, we’re creating a drop-in replacement fuel from algae.
We take advantage of the multi-trillion dollar infrastructure in place. Sapphire’s algae-based green crude does not have the environmental risks associated with fossilized oil extraction (drilling, shale, oil sands, etc.). And, because green crude can be produced closer to the consumption markets, the risks associated with transportation (e.g.; Exxon Valdez) are minimized.
RG: In an article in the NY Times dated 7/26/10 you are quoted saying this: “We’ve probably engineered over 4,000 strains. My whole goal here at Sapphire is to domesticate algae, to make it a crop.” How is this going? Which one of the 4,000 strains is the best and why?
MM: My goal hasn’t changed. I’m still focused on turning algae into a domestic crop. We get closer every day. Our algae model truly is at the intersection of biotechnology, agriculture and energy. By applying this model, we can grow thousands of strains of algae in order to zero in on the traits that will satisfy our liquid energy needs, meet our climate objectives, provide jobs, and build a sustainable world without the environmental, economic, and geopolitical burdens associated with using fossil crude oil sources.
Algae already has incredible sustainability and oil production characteristics, so we’re using the tools of modern biotechnology to improve on that. In order to commercialize algae’s amazing natural abilities, we must use these tools to give algae the necessary traits to be economically and commercially viable. In other words, algae plants need to be domesticated to acquire salt tolerance, resist disease and predators, increase oil yields, and improve carbon fixation.
Tags: Exxon, Sapphire Energy, USD, algae, algae-based green crude, algal biofuel, fossil fuel, Mike Mendez, New York Times, Sapphire Energy, sustainability, biotechnology, biotechnology, energy, food, Mike Mendez, oil, pharmaceuticals, Robert Gluck, Stephen Mayfield, transportation
Credited : energyboom.com
