NREL’s partnership with ExxonMobil making progress on algae fuels

In Colorado, through a research partnership with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), ExxonMobil that once urged motorists to “Put a tiger in your tank,” may one day suggest they fuel up with some algae.

A year into their unique collaboration, NREL and ExxonMobil are navigating a multi-pronged effort toward a future where clean-burning biofuels replace some petroleum-based fuels. The two have agreements in place covering the gamut from increasing the productivity of algae to understanding pollutants associated with different aspects of refining cellulosic biomass into a fuel.

ExxonMobil is working to create long-term options for low-emission fuels, which are scalable, minimize the drain on natural resources, and have low emissions both in the final use as well as during the production process. NREL, meanwhile, is dedicated to improving energy efficiency across multiple fronts and exploring alternative ways to fuel the future. These overlapping interests, and more, brought ExxonMobil to the partnership with NREL in May 2019.

NREL regularly collaborates with private companies, along with universities, state and local governments, and federal agencies, but the size of the arrangement with ExxonMobil stands out. The Texas company last summer pledged up to $100 million over 10 years for research at NREL, the National Energy Technology Laboratory, and other labs across the Department of Energy (DOE) complex. In its 2019 annual report issued earlier this year, ExxonMobil noted the billions of dollars being invested globally “to prevent and minimize the impact of our operations on air, water, and ground.” The NREL relationship is an important piece of the strategy.