Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
Available On Air Stations
Watch Live

Science & Technology

Green Crude Is The New Gold

An algae harvest wheel, used in the process of turning algae into fuel.
Sapphire Energy
An algae harvest wheel, used in the process of turning algae into fuel.
Algae fuel gets the green light with millions of dollars in support
“Green Crude” was named one of the best inventions by Time Magazine. The green fuel is made by Sapphire Energy in San Diego, and it doesn’t need fresh water or farm land to grow.

“Green Crude” was named one of the best inventions by Time Magazine. The green fuel is made by Sapphire Energy in San Diego, and it doesn’t need fresh water or farm land to grow.

Bill Gates, the Rockefellers, the Department of Energy and the USDA have put hundreds of millions of dollars into refining algae, or “green crude oil,” which is made by Sapphire Energy in San Diego.

Former BP Oil executive CJ Warner is now president of Sapphire. She says green crude is chemically identical to ancient crude oil drilled from the ground now—so it can be “dropped-in” to any gas engine as is.

Advertisement

“It means we’re not using a poor substitute, we’re not using something which requires us to use new engine technology or different vehicles. It’s actually a fuel which is identical to what we use today, so if you went to the gas station and filled up with algae fuel, you wouldn’t be able to tell the difference.

Sapphire’s algae fuel has been used in a cross-Atlantic jet flight and a cross country road trip by a little green car you may have seen around town, called the algae mobile.