Denso plans test facility to produce biofuel from microalgae

Denso Corporation is to build a large 20,000 square metre test facility for the culture of Pseudochoricystis ellipsoidea, an oil-producing microalga patented by Denso that is used to help reduce CO2 emissions.

The new facility located in Amakusa, Kumamoto, Japan and will be used to perform verification tests needed to establish large-scale microalga cultivation technologies required to improve biofuel production efficiency. The facility will start operations in April, 2016. The company says by 2018 timeframe, it will have established large-scale microalga cultivation technologies.

Since April 2008, the company has worked to produce biofuel-extracted from Pseudochoricystis ellipsoideamicroalga, which is a fast-growing, vigorous, and easy-to-cultivate microalga. Until now, Denso has conducted microalga farming tests in a smaller 300 square metre facility located on its Zenmyo Plant site in Nishio, Aichi, Japan.