The Big Experiment
Ever wondered how technology start-ups, well, start-up? For most founder entrepreneurs, it is the biggest experiment they'll ever run. Like most experiments, the result isn't known beforehand and it often doesn't work first time. On a bigger scale, how do big tech companies turn innovative science into profit?
Mark Davison interviews founder scientists, executives, investors, communicators, and others in the technology start-up and corporate science ecosystems.
Learn how great ideas turned into thriving businesses (or not) from those who made it happen (or didn't). Get business tips, lessons learned, and life lessons straight from the people who know.
Inspiring, disastrous, funny: hear what life in a science-driven company is really like.
Straight-talking, no nonsense, but conversational style. All technical content is explained for the non-specialist - you don't need a PhD or fluency in jargon and technobabble.
The Big Experiment
Paul Beastall: Fuelling our future planet with a zero-carbon biofuel
Forget drilling—what if diesel could be grown instead?
In this episode we head into the world of engineered biology with Paul Beastall, CEO of HutanBio. He explains how his team is cultivating an oil-rich microalgae, previously unknown to science, that thrives in desert heat, tolerates high salinity, and could transform the future of sustainable fuel.
From modular algae farms that resemble vineyards more than refineries, to carbon-negative bio-oil ready for aviation, shipping, and long-haul transport, this is a story of breakthrough biology meeting global-scale energy challenges.
Paul breaks down the tech, the economic viability, and why scale, not science, is now the final hurdle.
We need to move away from fossil fuel dependence, and with electrification or hydrogen fuels a system that requires huge industrial change this could be a transition technology that words.
Curious how a startup of 15 is challenging the oil industry? Listen now and find out.
“This isn’t just green fuel—it’s a carbon-negative replacement for fossil diesel.” – Paul Beastall
You’ll hear about:
· HutanBio’s focus on using microalgae to produce sustainable fuels.
· The need for sustainable fuels being increasingly recognised globally.
· How microalgae can absorb CO2 while growing, making it carbon negative.
· Innovative growth techniques include using photobioreactors for efficiency.
· How harvesting involves separating oil from biomass for fuel production.
· Why the economics of sustainable fuels are challenging but necessary for the green economy.
· The carbon footprint of algae-based fuels is significantly lower than fossil fuels.
· Funding is crucial for scaling up production and achieving business goals.
Connect with Dr. Ewelina Kurtys
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulbeastall/?originalSubdomain=uk
Website - https://hutanbio.com/
Connect with me:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markdavison100/
If you need any lab equipment:
Grant Instruments: https://www.grantinstruments.com/
Grant Instruments on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/grant-instruments-cambridge-ltd/
