US$1.8 billion. That is the amount that Singapore-based Chitose Bio Evolution is seeking to raise over the next few years to finance one of the largest microalgae cultivation and processing complexes for converting microalgae into biofuels and food. A consortium of 35 Japanese companies, including vehicle manufacturer Honda and oil refiner Eneos, have joined forces to create initial demand for the project. 

Chitose is building a 5-hectare pilot complex in Malaysia and is negotiating to expand it, in the industrial stage, to 2,000 hectares by 2027. The greenest aspect of the project is that it uses CO2 to feed the microalgae. The plan is to use CO2 from a neighboring thermoelectric plant to produce 140,000 tons of microalgae per year. These organisms absorb more than eight times the volume of CO2 than a soybean plant.

When operating at full capacity, Chitose expects to sell around US$1 billion per year.