OriginOil Inc. (OOIL) is developing a portfolio of new technologies for producing oil from algae, a next-generation biofuel feedstock that may yield 30 times more energy per acre than crops such as soybeans. The biofuel produced by the OriginOil System can replace petroleum in various applications such as diesel, gasoline, jet fuel, plastics and solvents. In addition, by-products of algae oil extraction can be used for animal feed. By creating a fuel that replaces fossil fuel, OOIL also helps producers garner saleable carbon credits. The OriginOil System can be operated as a stand-alone production system or connected in a parallel network. OOIL’s proprietary process is supported by intellectual property assets that include five patent filings and one international Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT).

Efficiently producing oil from algae in a closed system requires cultivating an algal strain with high lipid content and a rapid growth rate, which in turn requires the right combination of water, sunlight, nutrients and carbon dioxide. In addition, algae organisms are protected by a tough cell wall, which must be cracked to extract the oil. This is normally an energy-intensive process.

OOIL has successfully developed a cost-effective cultivation and extraction system that is also safe and energy-efficient. The cultivation system, known as the Helix BioReactor™, is designed to increase and optimize photosynthetic growth of algae. This system has been deployed in OOIL’s laboratory prototypes, and will be expanded for use in pilot systems in 2009 and in full-scale production systems looking ahead. In December 2008, OOIL announced the successful automation of its Helix BioReactor™ system, which makes large-scale commercial algae production scalable. To help dissolve nutrients in the growth phase and solve the tough cell wall problem in the extraction phase, the Company has developed the Quantum Fracturing™ process, which uses ultrasound from intense fluid fracturing to break down algae cells, much in the same way a high-frequency sound wave breaks glass. Combined with the use of tuned low-power microwave radiation, this process maximizes oil yield while minimizing energy use.

Since the Company’s shares began trading on the OTCBB market in late April of last year, OOIL has garnered considerable media attention. The Company was discussed in Forbes.Com, and both the Los Angeles Business Journal and Biodiesel magazine printed stories about OOIL in their August 2008 issues. In addition, the Company was recently selected as one of the “50 Hottest Companies in Bioenergy” by Biofuels Digest, and named as one of the “Top 100 Clean Energy Technologies” by the New Energy Congress.

Cooperative Agreement with Idaho National Laboratory
In February 2009, OOIL announced a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory (INL). The parties agreed upon a multi-phase research program that will focus on validating and commercially scaling OOIL’s technology for producing algae-based fuels, utilizing INL’s state-of-the-art equipment, capabilities, scientists and engineers.

The initial phase of the research program, which began in February, focuses on the collaborative development of an energy balance model for photobioreactor-based algae systems. OOIL anticipates using this model to optimize its algae-to-oil technology as early as the first quarter of 2009. Subsequent phases will seek to validate OOIL’s processes and pilot specific commercial applications.

The Idaho National Laboratory is a science-based, applied engineering national laboratory that supports the Department of Energy (DOE) on energy research and national defense. Its mission is to ensure U.S. energy security. Part of INL’s mandate is to facilitate the development of advanced renewable energy technologies into cost-effective, scalable industrial processes. OOIL’s partnership with INL may help advance America’s progress toward energy independence.