North American and European consumers are becoming more concerned with health: their own health as they (especially baby boomers) age and the health of future generations. As concerns about the impact of pollution on general health and the health of the planet mount, the public in Europe and North America are becoming less and less tolerant of unsustainable practices. Solarvest Inc.’s innovative algae technologies allow for the production of a variety of environmentally sustainable biological products that are a perfect fit with these current market trends/needs. These products include Omega-3 fatty acid oil production for use in human and veterinary nutrition, algae-derived prescription therapeutics and hydrogen generation from algae as a sustainable fuel source. The Company provides a relevant and diverse portfolio with an excellent potential for success for this innovative clean and “green” biologics company.

The company was formed in 2006 and since that time has been researching algae culture and expression and primarily investing in natural processes to produce high levels of Omega 3 fatty acids. The company is now ready to begin commercialization of these natural and organic human nutraceutical products.

Solarvest has proprietary technology that for the first time enables algae to produce hydrogen in a continuous cycle in a single vessel. Solarvest – in collaboration with leading university scientists - has developed and tested laboratory scale hydrogen production from genetically modified algae on a continuous cycle basis.

Solarvest’s goal is to further develop and scale up its algal-based “green” system for commercial hydrogen production. We will accomplish this using its patent-pending technology for developing genetically improved algae for large scale cultivation and harvesting of hydrogen.

An algal-based continuous cycle hydrogen production system will result in sustainable hydrogen production at an economical cost. The hydrogen can be used as a “gas” or used on algae farms to produce electricity. In the future portable power systems that require no input other than the sun will become a reality. The system will be flexible and can vary in size from small, on-site units that meet the hydrogen/electricity needs of a single facility, to large centralized production and distribution centers.

Hydrogen fuels can be used for direct energy use, compressed and stored, or for electricity generation such as in stationary fuel cells. In addition, this green technology will consistently generate carbon credits, which the company can sell or trade.

Solarvest’s Process Hinges on its H2-producing Algal Strain

Chloroplasts are the site of energy and oxygen production in all plants. However, the process of hydrogen metabolism by green algae is unique as the production of hydrogen takes place at the same site as the oxygen produced by photosynthesis. In 2003 the US Department of Energy published a Two-Stage Hydrogen Production System. This process utilizes a two-stage two-phase system that encourages the algae into producing hydrogen by starving it of key nutrients like sulfur and oxygen (anaerobic environment). The algae under these difficult conditions produce ydrogen by switching from photosynthesis to photolysis. Photolysis primarily produces hydrogen by breaking down water but also utilizes the protein and starch that is available in the culture system. Under these conditions the algae die rapidly so a second vessel is used to continuously add healthy cells to the production culture from an oxygen rich environment. US Department of energy estimates that this system will achieve an estimated cost per kilowatt of 0.70 cents.

Solarvest has developed genetically engineered H2-producing algal strains that cyclically produces hydrogen under laboratory conditions. An important advantage to the Company’s CO2 sequestration process is that hydrogen can be evolved in tandem with CO2 sequestration in the same photobioreactor. Solarvest’s hydrogen production platform utilizes an innovative gene circuit engineered for production of hydrogen and oxygen in inter-oscillating phases. This approach has solved some of the most challenging problems with economic hydrogen production from micro-algae. Until now, methods developed to produce hydrogen from algae have required two separate bioreactors, one for biomass accumulation and CO2 sequestration and another for hydrogen production. This limitation of two tanks is inherent to these strategies and cannot be overcome easily, if at all. On the other hand, hydrogen production and CO2 usage in our platform occurs in a single photo-bioreactor. For industrial purposes, reducing the number of the bioreactors required for hydrogen production by 50% is an enormous innovation and will save on space and capital equipment costs. Secondly, previous hydrogen production methods required the starvation of algal cultures of an important macronutrient, such as sulphur. As a result, these systems suffer from a relatively short period of hydrogen production occurring at sub-optimum cell densities in a severely restrictive nutrient environment. Solarvest’s Hydrogen Technology Platform (“HTP”) eliminates the necessity for utilizing such a method. Hydrogen production in the HTP occurs in an optimal nutrient environment. The Company has demonstrated hydrogen production from a single batch culture for weeks rather than days at comparable rates of production to the two-bioreactor system. Solarvest has an ongoing program to develop these strains to reach commercially viable production levels. This proposed methodology using solar energy to produce H2 will contribute to reducing the requirements for CO2 capture and storage in the future. Finally, these strains will also have the ability to produce high amounts of valuable biomolecules. Metabolically modified organisms are being developed which express valuable proteins and or lipids to commercially utilize the resulting algal biomass as a feedstock or to extract biomolecules. By exploiting the full range of commercial products derived from algal biomass, this process can become revenue positive with multiple opportunities for economical development