Blue Marble Energy
 | |
| Private company | |
| Founded | 2007 |
| Headquarters | Seattle, Washington |
Key people |
Colby Underwood Co-CEO, & CBO James Stephens Co-CEO, & CSO |
| Website |
www |
Blue Marble Energy, founded in 2007, is a U.S. based company which utilizes hybridized bacterial consortia to produce specialty biochemicals and renewable biogas. Their company mission is to displace oil with fully renewable, carbon neutral alternatives utilizing nature-based solutions. They develop and generate these biochemicals from diverse cellulosic biomass.[1]
Facilities
On August 25, 2011, Blue Marble Energy held their grand opening for their new Small Commercial Biorefinery located in Missoula, Montana. Missoula was chosen in part due to its rail transportation corridor, readily available green-collar workforce, and proximity to the University of Montana.. Blue Marble opened their Large Commercial Biorefinery (also in Missoula, MT) in September 2013 with a capacity of 1,000 metric tons (input) and 10,000 to 15,000 kg (final product output) per month. Blue Marble has publicly announced that they are working with several Fortune 500 companies to design and build a constellation of co-located facilities.
Technology
Blue Marble’s patented conversion system, Acid, Gas, and Ammonia Targeted Extraction (AGATE) uses non-genetically modified bacteria. It can process a wide variety of organic biomass feedstocks. A single fermentation contains multiple strains of bacteria which specialise in the breakdown of different feedstocks. The resulting consortia of different bacteria "perform well in high nitrogen environments and can withstand shocks to the system (such as changes in pH, temperature, and feedstock). This allows AGATE to process nearly any organic biomass: food waste, yard waste, spent brewery grain, algae, milfoil, corn silage, etc. AGATE can handle both fresh and wet feedstock, and can be adjusted to meet changing economic opportunities and market needs.".[2] Through anaerobic digestion and fermentation, the AGATE platform manipulates microbial environments to produce esters, amides, anhydrous ammonia, and rich biogas.[3]
In the media
- Food Waste Fuels Growth for Biochemical Maker Blue Marble from Forbes.[4]
- Blue Marble Energy was recognized, out of a survey of 1400 companies, as one of the 100 Hottest Companies in Bioenergy for 2009 by Biofuels Digest.[5]
- Blue Marble Energy was nominated in 2009 for an award at the World Technology Network Summit in the category of Energy.[6]
- Algae Harvesting
In the past, Blue Marble Energy participated in aquatic remediation efforts for the Puget Sound and other waterways around Seattle in an effort to repair damaged ocean ecology damaged by harmful algae blooms and invasive species. This water cleanup may be extended to sewage treatment plants and mine sites in the future.[7]