Driving Around Sundance With Biodiesel Made From Algae

January 23, 2008
By Chuck Squatriglia

A California biotech firm is betting algae is a fuel of the future, and to prove the stuff works, it's driving around the Sundance Film Festival in car powered by algae-derived biofuel it calls Soladiesel.

Solazyme says tooling around Park City, Utah in a Mercedes Benz C320 diesel will be the first real-world road test of biodiesel made from algae. The car is straight off the showroom floor (Solazyme says Mercedes is not involved in the company or the test in any way), and the company says Soladiesel will work in any diesel engine, in almost any climate.

"In demonstrating this new fuel alternative, we're responding to the need for a near-term solution that will also be cost effective and sustainable," Harrison Dillon, the company's president, said in a statement. "Our technology combines all the key components: low carbon footprint, environmental sustainability, certified compatability with existing vehicles and infrastructure and energy security for our country."

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