![]() “The company has also solved key challenges for cost-effectively growing algae and converting it into oil, enabling the company to potentially compete as a viable fuel provider in the burgeoning energy field.” “Manta Biofuel has developed novel technologies for harvesting algae that address a critical threat to the Chesapeake Bay: life-killing algae blooms,” said Craig Dye, director of the Maryland Technology Enterprise Institute (Mtech) Ventures Program, which administers the Chesapeake Bay Seed Capital Fund. Algae blooms are caused by excess nutrients, such as nitrogen and phosphorous, entering into waterways, from sources such as agriculture, air deposition, septic systems, sewage treatment plants, and runoff from lawns, gardens and paved surfaces. Harmful algae blooms can choke out large swaths of the bay, depriving fish, crabs and other marine life of oxygen and blocking sunlight for underwater bay grasses. The promise is this: Manta could one day skim algae right off of the Chesapeake Bay and convert it into oil, simultaneously cleaning up deadly algae blooms and providing the precursor for clean, renewable fuels. ![]() The Chesapeake Bay Seed Capital Fund has invested $150,000 into Manta Biofuel LLC, a company that produces crude oil from algae at a cost that is competitive with traditional petroleum, University of Maryland officials announce today. Company could remove algae blooms from the Bay and convert them into crude oil
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