By Kari Williamson

"We believe this is a major breakthrough for OriginOil and a major step forward for the algae industry," says Riggs Eckelberry, OriginOil CEO. "We already lead the industry with our chemical-free, low-energy, continuous high-flow harvesting system.

"From there it's a natural step to helping algae growers make a direct crude oil replacement right on site, giving them direct access to the existing world market for transportation fuels, including jet fuel. That's an instant upgrade from what is now a niche market, to the immediate 86 million barrel per day global crude oil market."

OriginOil's Biocrude System will integrate its own harvesting system with a biomass processing technology being developed under the recently-announced research agreement with INL, to convert raw algae into renewable crude oil.