The combined technologies of NIWA to grow and harvest the algae and Solray Systems to convert this algae to oil products, all with the help of the Christchurch City Council, was combined to generate the world’s largest Algae to Oil Demonstration Plant.

In addition the residue of minerals left from the extraction of oil from the reacted algae sludge has been analysed and has a high level of phosphate as P2O5 and the other minerals originally used by the growing algae.

Consequently all the key production steps for a novel industry can now be demonstrated which utilizes sunlight along with waste water nutrients to produce oil as well as production of fertilizer with the concentrated phosphate and other minerals from the algae.