For the past few years I have been extremely interested in algae as an alternative to petroleum. I was a student at the Green MBA and my interest was first peaked by my then classmate and now CEO of Skip to Renew, Stig Westling. Stig’s company develops and produces sustainable, environmentally friendly, and cost-effective industrial lubricants and greases.
This got me thinking - what other companies are out there and who is leading the pack in the biofuel market? My research led me to Riggs Eckelberry, the CEO and President of OriginOil. “OriginOil is proving its next-generation technology to greatly enhance algae biomass harvesting and oil extraction. This allows scalable industrialization to make algae a high-yield, cost-competitive replacement for petroleum.”
What is admirable about algae is that unlike many other biofuel alternatives is that it does not require farmland or fresh water therefore “fundamentally changing the world’s source of oil without disrupting the environment or food supplies”.
To say I am very excited about Riggs Eckelberry speaking at this month’s EcoTuesday on May 22nd would be a great understatement. I feel that the knowledge and expertise he can provide our members is invaluable. Not only has Riggs proved himself in the competitive tech market he has now undertaken this challenge in the world of alternative energy and proven to be successful.
Riggs Eckelberry has helped OriginOil become a publicly-traded technology firm that helps algae growers extract oil from Algae for use as a feedstock for the commercial production of transportation fuels, chemicals and foods. In January of 2011, Riggs Eckelberry was named to the Advisory Board of the National Algae Association. He speaks regularly on algae industry trends and writes the Algae Business column for Algae Industry Magazine.
I hope that as you read this you are as excited as I am and will attend what will surely be an amazing discussion about Algae as viable replacement for petroleum. Register today - there's only one week left!
