AkzoNobel, a major paints and specialty chemicals producer, and renewable oil and bioproducts company Solazyme today announced an agreement to develop renewable oils from algae.
Tailored oils can enhance or replace petroleum-derived chemicals, and improve upon the performance of plant oils and animal fats, the companies say.
They expect product development efforts to begin in the second half of this year. The renewable oils will be used in AkzoNobel’s products including surfactants, paints and coatings.
The companies say commercial supply of multi-thousand ton quantities of sustainable algal oil will originate from the Solazyme Bunge Renewable Oils Joint Venture oil manufacturing plant in Brazil. Sales of the algal oil are slated to start in 2014.
AkzoNobel says Solaryme’s biofuels will help reduce the environmental footprint of its surface chemistry and decorative paints businesses. The Dutch paint company in February set new sustainability targets that include reducing carbon emissions by 25 to 30 percent per ton of product by 2020, compared to 2012 levels. It also pledged that by 2020, its downstream eco-premium products will account for 20 percent of revenue. The environmental initiatives are part of a larger plan to make the company more profitable.
Earlier this year, AkzoNobel joined the Sustainable Shipping Initiative, a global coalition of companies that pledge to improve the industry’s environmental impacts through a broad range of goals, including reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Leading alternative fuel developers including Solazyme face a make-or-break year as they race to show substantial revenue, according to a February report by Lux Research.
Photo Credit: Solazyme
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