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Global perspective Anna Jagger
Oiling the wheels Brazil is the location for a new plant currently being built to produce oils derived from algae
A
fter five years of joint development projects, US biotechnology company Solazyme has secured an
agreement to supply consumer products giant Unilever with algae-derived oils. Solazyme, which produces oils from algae using standard fermentation equipment, will produce the oils at a production plant under construction in Moema in São Paulo, southeast Brazil. The companies said they have been
collaborating on the development of tailored algal oils for five years. Under this initial supply agreement, Solazyme will supply Unilever with at least 10,000t/ year of the jointly developed oils. Product validation trials will take place in Q4 2013 and deliveries are planned to begin in early 2014. Unilever intends to purchase the full volume within 12-18 months.
Unilever has not disclosed how it intends to use the novel oils, but Solazyme has said previously that the companies’ joint development projects covered skin, personal care and nutrition products.
David Blanchard, chief category R&D officer at Unilever, said: ‘We believe that Solazyme’s tailored oils technology can provide sustainable competitive advantage across many categories and brands, and we view this agreement as just the beginning of the commercial phase of our relationship.’ The agreement with Solazyme, announced in September 2013, will help Unilever meet its sustainability goals. The company plans to source all agricultural raw materials from sustainable sources by 2020, compared with 36% at the end of 2012.
Jonathan Wolfson, Solazyme’s ceo, said the deal is expected to be the first of
‘We believe that Solazyme’s tailored oils technology can provide sustainable competitive advantage across many categories and brands, and we view this agreement as just the beginning of the
commercial phase of our relationship’ David Blanchard chief category R&D officer, Unilever
many supply agreements with Unliever. ‘Unilever is a highly valued strategic partner that has greatly influenced our ability to scale our tailored oil technology over the past several years,’ he stated. Solazyme has been busy securing supply agreements for its algal oils in recent months ahead of the start-up of its first commercial-scale production units, located in Moema and also in the US. Solazyme is building the Moema plant in partnership with global agribusiness and food company Bunge. The project, located next to a Bunge sugarcane mill, will benefit from Bunge’s sugarcane supply and processing capabilities and have the capacity to produce 100,000t/ year of tailored triglyceride oils for use in oleochemicals and fuel applications. Production is on track to begin in the fourth quarter of 2013.
Solazyme and Bunge have said they intend to add 200,000t/year of capacity at selected Bunge mills wordwide by 2016 and to broaden the portfolio of oils to include a range of healthy and nutritious edible food oils. In addition to the Moema project, Solazyme plans to produce renewable oils at an Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) fermentation plant in Clinton, Iowa, US, from early 2014. Solazyme is targeting production of 20,000t/year of renewable oil from corn dextrose at the ADM facility,
with future expansion to 100,000t/ year. The facility was previously used to make polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) for bioplastics producer Metabolix, but has been idle since the start of 2012. In addition, Solazyme has a
demonstration facility in Peoria, Illinois, US, which it has been refitting for large- scale production of algal flour and protein products.
Solazyme’s sugar-to-oil technology involves feeding sugar from plant material to specially engineered heterotrophic algae in standard fermentation facilities. The algae then produce targeted triglyceride oils with specific characteristics to perform a variety of functions. Solazyme lists among its development partners and potential customers Mitsui, Sasol, AkzoNobel and Goulston Technologies, in addition to Unilever, Bunge and ADM. Solazyme has announced the
agreements with Unilever, Sasol and Goulston in the space of three months. It announced in August 2013 an agreement with Sasol to supply an algal oil rich in erucic acid for the production of downstream derivatives such as behenyl alcohol. And in October 2013, Solazyme said it would supply high oleic algal oils to Goulston, a textile lubricants company. The Unilever deal is particularly important as it signals the growing acceptance of products derived from algae. It also represents a huge opportunity for Solazyme. Unilever is active in a wide range of product areas, including personal care, food and detergents – all covered by Solazyme’s technology platform.
Anna Jagger is a freelance journalist with a keen interest in the Latin American chemicals industry
Chemistry&Industry • November 2013 41
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