Announcements

OriginOil CEO Riggs Eckelberry outlines plans to share first-ever industry model, developed in collaboration with US Department of Energy

Los Angeles, CA September 22, 2009 – OriginOil, Inc. (OOIL), the developer of a breakthrough technology to transform algae, the most promising source of renewable oil, into a true competitor to petroleum, announced that the National Algae Association’s (NAA) quarterly conference applauded OriginOil’s presentation of a first-ever comprehensive algae production model, developed with the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) of the Department of Energy under its collaborative research agreement with OriginOil.

CEO Riggs Eckelberry and chief scientist Dr. Vikram Pattarkine took turns outlining the new model in an OriginOil presentation. They used the extensive spreadsheet to illustrate their points interactively.

“We knew that the first company to actually come out and openly document the real productivity picture would face a tough challenge,” said Barry Cohen, executive director of the National Algae Association. “OriginOil did it and now we have the beginning of an industry model.”

Key contributors included the Idaho National Lab (INL) of the Department of Energy, which helped develop the energy and mass balance model as part of its collaborative research agreement with OriginOil; leading multinational oil and fats producer Desmet Ballestra, for capital costs and materials pricing; and principals of Orineo Renewables, for guidance on pricing and value-add product strategy.

At the end of the presentation, CEO Eckelberry outlined plans to share this first-ever interactive model for algae production through a process of publishing various calculators on the company’s website and also making the detailed model available to researchers.

“Imagine what it means for a business planner or researcher to be able to turn to this model and easily adapt it into their requirements,” said Eckelberry. “To encourage contribution by all concerned, an industry group like the NAA should ultimately host the model, and we are in talks to do help them do just that.”