Recently, Greenopia released the updated ratings ranking ten oil companies in terms of their green practices. How, pray tell, can an oil company be eco-friendly? We looked at their environmental reporting, greenhouse gas emissions, production efficiency, oil spill cleanups, stance on climate change, and pursuit of alternative energy. And coming in at #5 was Exxon.

In 2007, Exxon emitted 141 million tons of greenhouse gases. So why did they rate higher than some of the other oil companies on the list? Greenopia weighs the pursuit of renewable fuels heavily and this bumped them up in the ratings. Exxon has traditionally been a big opponent of renewable fuels – until now. Recently, Exxon announced a $600 million commitment to the development of biofuels. Experts feel that shows there is a market shift – renewable fuels are finally becoming profitable, and the industry giants are taking notice.

The Guardian reports that scientist Craig Venter has announced plans to develop next-generation biofuels in a $600 million partnership with Exxon Mobil. Venter’s company Synthetic Genomics Incorporated will research algae as a source of fuel. Emil Jacobs is the vice president of research and development at ExxonMobil. As he told The Guardian, "Meeting the world's growing energy demands will require a multitude of technologies and energy sources." He further elaborates, "We believe that biofuel produced by algae could be a meaningful part of the solution in the future if our efforts result in an economically viable, low-net carbon emission transportation fuel."

And just how does algae work as biofuel? Algae captures carbon dioxide and sunlight during photosynthesis to convert it into oxygen and biomass. Experts note that up to 99% of the carbon dioxide in solution can be converted into fuel. Algae also has a leg up in the biofuels market because it can produce up to 300 times more oil per acre than conventional crops like palms and soybeans.

Exxon and Venter’s combined efforts will start off with a research facility to be built in San Diego, California. Scientists will test whether algae is most efficiently grown in open ponds or bioreactors, where the algae are grown in sealed tubes. As Venter tells The Guardian, "We will be trying out these different approaches … using newly-discovered natural algae to test the best approaches we can come up with to go into a scale-up mode." Luckily, they now have the finances to see which approach will work best for biofuel.

Photo: Scientists work on biofuels.

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