Monday, August 27, 2012

Sapphire Energy In Production In New Mexico

San Diego-based Sapphire Energy, the heavily venture backed developers of biofuels technology, reported this morning that it has completed the first phase of its facility in New Mexico, and has begun producing crude oil at the plant. The company said that so far, the facility has harvested 81 tons of biomass at the facility. Sapphire--which raised a huge, $144M venture funding round in April--said the commercial algae-to-energy facility is expected to produce 1.5 million gallons per year of crude oil, made from renewable algae. The company's Green Crude Farm was backed by $85M in private investment, plus a USDA loan guarantee and a $50M grant from the U.S. Department of Energy. Sapphire is venture backed by Arrowpoint Partners, Monsanto, as well as many others.

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