Algae oil developer Sapphire Energy, Inc. and industrial gas producer the Linde Group have expanded their partnership to commercialize a new industrial scale conversion technology needed to upgrade algae biomass into crude oil. The companies will refine the hydrothermal treatment process developed and operated today by Sapphire Energy at pilot-scale. In addition, they will jointly license and market the technology into an expanded list of industries, including algae, municipal solid waste, and farm waste, in order to upgrade other biomass sources into energy. The agreement spans a minimum of five years through the development of Sapphire Energy’s first commercial scale, algae-to-energy production facility