Cellana (company)

Cellana is a joint venture company formed by Royal Dutch Shell and HR Biopetroleum to develop the biofuels project.

Royal Dutch Shell plc announced on 11 December 2007 that it will work with HR Biopetroleum to build a pilot facility for growing algae as a source of biofuels.

The facility will cultivate algae in seawater ponds, then harvest the algae and extract oil from them for conversion into fuels such as biodiesel.

Construction of the facility is on a parcel of land leased from the Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii Authority (NELHA), which is located on the west shore of the island of Hawaii. The NELHA pipes in a constant supply of clean, fresh ocean water. NELHA was originally built to support a DOE project for ocean thermal energy conversion, and it continues to employ the project's seawater supply pipes to support a variety of research projects and commercial enterprises, including facilities that currently grow and harvest algae for pharmaceuticals and nutritional supplements.

The Cellana facility will grow only non-genetically modified, marine microalgae species in open-air ponds using proprietary technology. It will also use bottled carbon dioxide to test the algae's ability to capture carbon. To support the facility, academic research programs at the University of Hawaii, the University of Southern Mississippi, and Canada's Dalhousie University will screen natural microalgae species to find the strains that produce the highest yields and the most oil.

References

External links

* [http://www.nelha.org/ Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii Authority] .