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CHEYENNE, Wyo. - Dec. 6, 2007 - In its continuing effort to meet increasing energy
demands while safeguarding the environment, Northington Energy, LLC has taken
another bold step to help produce a green future.
Northington Energy, one of the nation's leaders in promoting renewable fuels,
announced today the acquisition of Zenalgae™, a biotech research company based in
Atlanta, Georgia. Zenalgae™ has been recognized as one of the most innovative
developers of scaleable growth technology for algae. Algae that recently has become
known as Mother Nature's premier oil producing organism.
"Acquiring Zenalgae™ is the perfect fit for our company," said Lisa Horn, Director of
New Business Development for Northington Energy. "Algae are the fastest growing
plants in the world, and growing and harvesting them for biofuels production while
reducing CO2 is key to our company's growth."
In fact, algae-oil production has been lauded by the Department of Energy as having a
very promising future. Although most research has been done in the private sector, the
DOE says that experiments bear out that algae to produce biodiesel and other fuels
"may be the only viable method by which to produce enough automotive fuel to displace
current world gasoline usage."
Algae, which reproduces itself and its oils every six hours, has created excitement in the
biodiesel industry because of its potential to produce yields that far exceed those of soy
beans, currently the nation's leading biodiesel feedstock. Not only are the oil yields from
algae encouraging, its environmental impact is minimal compared to other forms of fuel
production. Algae can be harvested day after day using marginal land space, and
because it's scaleable, unlike other biodiesel feedstocks like soy and canola, the volume
of oil per acre is estimated to be 100 times greater than non-scaleable forms. Soy Beans
produce approximately 50 gallons of oil per acre per year, while canola checks in at 150
gallons. But algae is expected to produce 4,000 gallons per acre per year, and
eventually even more.
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"This technology has tremendous potential and algae have to be the greenest of all the
green fuels," said Horn. "There's no other resource that comes close to having the
potential to create so much oil. The trick will be to put in place a system where the algae
can be grown fast enough and cheap enough. And we think we have a good plan in
place at Northington Energy."
The Zenalgae™ bioreactor, which will be installed at Northington Energy's new 8 acre,
15,000-square foot facility in Wartburg, Tenn., will be the ideal site for the system. The
Zenalgae™ research and development facility will be relocated to Innovation Valley, in
the Knoxville/Oak Ridge area of Eastern Tennessee.
Said Horn: "Tennesee has the right climate and now it has the right technology to
advance alternative fuel production from a renewable non-food source. Locally, this will
be another boost for the community and globally, another breakthrough for the
environment."
About Northington Energy LLC
The Wyoming-based energy company is committed to advancing renewable fuels while
providing employment and low-cost energy to the communities it serves. For additional
information about Northington Energy and its Tennessee biofuels plant, visit
www.northingtonenergy.com.
For additional information about Zenalgae™ visit www.zenalgae.com
Contact Information:
Northington Energy LLC
info@northingtonenergy.com
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