Algae Biomass Organization

Water levels in U.S. aquifers are dropping at a rate 3 times faster than at any time in the last century, according to an exhaustive 18 year study by the United States Geological Survey. The new research shows dramatic drops in the vast underground storage areas tapped for agriculture, energy and human consumption.

With depleted aquifers, as well as continued drought, our ability to produce energy — and food — will be dramatically impacted.  That’s why it’s more important than ever to develop technologies that don’t rely on fresh water resources.

Algae, which can grow in salt, brackish or wastewater, present a unique and significant opportunity to sustainably feed and fuel our society. As algae grow, they can simultaneously produce lipids (oils) that can be refined into fuels, chemicals and industrial uses as well as nutrients that can be used for animal feed and human health.

A recent ABO webinar showcased commercial algae’s ability to utilize saltwater resources for wide scale production.  And new research from the Pacific Northwest National Lab yesterday finds that the U.S. land and water resources could support 25 billion gallons of algae-based fuel annually – about one-twelfth of our annual consumption.

The US algae industry continues to lead the way in the development of sustainable solutions for fuel, food and the environment.

Check out this recording of last week’s ABO’s webinar on algae and saltwater resources:

Mark you calendar for the 16th annual Congressional Renewable Energy & Energy Efficiency EXPO + Forum being held June 16 in Washington, DC.

The event will bring together nearly fifty businesses, sustainable energy industry trade associations, government agencies, and energy policy research organizations to showcase the status and near-term potential of the cross-section of renewable energy (biofuels/biomass, geothermal, solar, water, wind) and energy efficiency technologies.

Hosting the conference is the Sustainable Energy Coalition - in cooperation with Members of the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate Renewable Energy & Energy Efficiency Caucuses, and in partnership with the Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition, Congressional Energy Savings Performance Contract Caucus, High Performance Building Caucus, Green Schools Caucus, and Hydrogen & Fuel Cell Caucus.

Click here for more information here.

Yesterday the Algae Biomass Organization announced the results of it’s latest board elections, and we’d like to extend a warm welcome to the new and returning board members that will serve until 2015!

The newly elected board members are:

• Tim Burns – BioProcess Algae
• Jose Olivares – Los Alamos National Laboratories
• Todd Taylor – Fredrikson & Byron

Four board members were re-elected to a new two-year term:

• David Hazlebeck – General Atomics
• Margaret McCormick – Matrix Genetics
• Paul Woods – Algenol Biofuels
• Tim Zenk – Sapphire Energy

These new and re-elected board members join ABO’s current board members:

• Mark Allen – Accelergy Corporation
• John Benemann – MicroBio Engineering, Inc.
• Tom Byrne – Byrne & Company, Ltd.
• Bill Glover – Boeing Commercial Airplanes
• Greg Mitchell – Scripps Institution of Oceanography
• Joel Murdock – FedEx Express
• Philip Pienkos – National Renewable Energy Laboratory
• Jim Rekoske – Honeywell/UOP

More information is available in ABO’s press release.

Last Thursday ABO conduced the first in a series of live webinars that are designed to showcase the people, policies and technologies that are moving the algae industry forward. This preliminary webinar focused on the interplay of saline water availability and commercial algae production for biofuels and other products. Presenting on the topic were:

• Mary Rosenthal, Executive Director of the Algae Biomass Organization
• Dr. Stephen Mayfield, Director of the San Diego Center for Algae Biotechnology at UC-San Diego
• Dr. Mark Wigmosta, Chief Scientist at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
• Dr. Erik Venteris, Spatial Modeling Research Engineer at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

The presentations were detailed explainations of the latest research on algae’s potential to thrive in salt water, and how the available salt water in the U.S. can support large-scale algae farming.

If you missed the webinar last week we have posted this recording of the event:

Iowa may soon be joining Arizona and Ohio in passing state legislation that supports the algae industry. On Tuesday a bill to give algae producers the same property tax treatment as other agriculture industries passed unanimously in the state’s Senate. The bill will help put algae on a level-playing field with other technologies and feedstocks.

The bipartisan support shows that algae-derived renewable fuels, fertilizers and other products have broad appeal for their ability to enhance our energy security and provide economic development to rural and urban areas.

As more algae companies close in on commercial production, we are wondering which states will be next.

One short piece of legislation recently introduced in Washington, DC as the potential to unleash a new wave of investment in renewable energy technologies.

The bill, the Master Limited Partnerships Parity Act (MLPPA), introduced by  Senator Chris Coons (D-DE) and a bipartisan group of lawmakers would allow clean energy companies to organize as a Master Limited Partnership (MLP), an arrangement currently applicable only to oil and gas companies.

In a recent post on the National Journal’s Energy Blog, ABO Executive Director Mary Rosenthal weighed in on what this bill could do for renewable energy investment:

…this very simple piece of legislation will have significant benefits to our economy, our environment and our national energy security. By giving renewable fuel projects the same tax incentives and treatment that fossil fuel projects have enjoyed for decades, the MLPPA will help biofuel companies overcome the so-called valley of death – the space between successful pilot or demonstration facilities and full-blown commercial facilities. It will also increase investment opportunities for a wider audience, allowing more people to “vote with their dollars.” Last, by facilitating the commercialization of new fuels, this bill will help create jobs and drive economic growth across the country.

Read the rest of Mary’s column here.

It has become an all too familiar comment that American students are falling behind the rest of the world in math and science.  But as we highlighted back in March, young scholars from across the country are showing the promise that the next generation of scientists hold.  President Obama highlighted Sara Volz at the White House Science Fair last week, to showcase the inspiring work she’s done to develop algae that produce higher yields of oil for biofuels.  For her efforts, she won Intel’s Science Talent Search and a $100,000 scholarship which she will use to attend MIT next fall.

At this year’s Algae Biomass Summit coming up in October, ABO will again highlight rising scientific stars with our Young Algae Research Awards.  With all the recent highlights we’ve had thus far from rising algae whiz kids, picking this year’s winner should prove no less challenging.

The 2013 Algae Biomass Summit is kicking off in Orlando, Fl Sep. 30-Oct. 3 and there are several opportunities to be more connected to the event.  Algae industry leaders from 34 countries and 48 states are expected to attend and the expo hall has sold out 3 years running. Exhibit space has just opened up, so those wishing to sign up should do right now, before spots are taken and you miss out on an opportunity to be a part of the largest gathering of algae professionals in the world, there’s no time like the present.

Sponsorship opportunities have also recently opened up and after the huge success of last year’s event spots are already going fast.  Those who get these limited spots will receive several added benefits, including two full registrations and valuable exposure leading up to and at the event.

Exhibit Booth Includes

• Two complimentary full conference registrations
• Company listing on the conference website
• Company listing in the on-site program
• Company mention in promotional e-mails and brochures
• One 8′ x 10′ (foot) booth and company identification sign

Click here to become a Sponsor.

Click here to sign up for exhibit space.

Algae Testbed Public-Private Partnership (ATP³) members from across the nation descended upon the ASU Polytechnic campus April 15-18 to discuss strategies for advancing research and development of algae-based technologies for biofuels and other valuable co-products.

Led by the Arizona Center for Algae Technology and Innovation (AzCATI) at ASU, representatives from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratories, Cellana, Touchstone Research Laboratory, Valicor Renewables, California Polytechnic University San Luis Obispo, Georgia Institute of Technology, University of Texas at Austin, and Commercial Algae Management have partnered to form ATP³. ATP³ aims to facilitate innovation, empower knowledge creation and accelerate growth of the emergent algal energy industry.

During the kickoff meeting, members of ATP³ strategized how to effectively meet the needs of testbed users across the world and collaboratively produce relevant data and standard analytical and production methods to inform algae-based solutions for the energy, carbon capture and scale-up needs of public and private markets.

“The ATP³ kickoff meeting gave all of the partners of ATP³ a chance to discuss how we will support public and private institutions in finding solutions to the nation’s energy challenges,” said Gary Dirks, director of ATP³, and ASU LightWorks, the university initiative that pulls light-inspired research at ASU under one strategic framework. “Working together, we will push the envelope on algae-based sciences and produce usable, sustainable solutions to carbon capture and fuel needs – to name a few.”

The ATP³ project is made possible by a $15 million U.S. Department of Energy competitive grant from its Bioenergy Technologies Office. This funding allows ATP³ to support the operation of existing outdoor algae cultivation systems and produce algae that can be used for real-world solutions such as biofuel.

Partner testbed facilities are located in Arizona, Hawaii, California, Ohio and Georgia.

The ATP³ framework allows partners to work individually within their own institutions or collaboratively, to coordinate analytical and technical support from the larger ATP³ network.

“The framework we are creating at ATP³ is unprecedented,” said John McGowen, Portfolio Manager in ASU’s Office of Knowledge Enterprise Development’s Project Management Office and Director of Operations and Program Management for ATP³. “By providing closely coordinated, harmonized and objective standards for algal production and biomass compositional analysis protocols across our network of testbed facilities, we will have the ability to reduce the uncertainties around biomass productivity, oil compositional quality and yields.  ATP³ will make these standardized and validated methods, as well as the high impact data from our long term cultivation feedstock trials accessible to the algal biofuels modeling and R&D community.”

The collaborative effort of ATP³ not only serves the group mission to accelerate algae-based research and development, but also helps partner agencies advance their own goals.

“Partnering with industry leaders through the ATP³ framework enables collaboration to more quickly solve underlying challenges in support of commercial algae technology solutions,” said Lee Tonkovich, vice president of Research & Development at Heliae LLC, an algae technology company in Gilbert, Ariz.

The ATP³ meeting took place at AzCATI, a hub for research, testing, and commercialization of algae-based products at the Polytechnic Campus. AzCATI provides open test and evaluation facilities for the algae industry and research community. AzCATI is embedded within ASU’s College of Technology and Innovation and is part of the LightWorks initiative, supported by ASU’s Office of Knowledge Enterprise Development.

For more information about ATP³ visit atp3.org.

BioProcess Algae facility in Iowa

Yesterday the Energy Department today announced nearly $18 million in four innovative pilot-scale biorefineries in California, Iowa, and Washington that will test renewable biofuels as a domestic alternative to power our cars, trucks, and planes that meet military specifications for jet fuel and shipboard diesel. Among the recipients is ABO member Bioprocess Algae, which will use the award to further develop their Grower Harvester technology platform, co-located with the Green Plains Renewable Energy ethanol plant in Shenandoah, Iowa.

A statement from BioProcess Algae describes the project more:

“We believe our Grower Harvester platform will be vital in the development of this project with the DOE,” said Tim Burns, President and CEO of BioProcess Algae. “For this project, we will integrate low-cost autotrophic algal production, accelerated lipid production, and lipid conversion in an effort to develop a cost-effective advanced biofuel for military needs. This development is consistent with our current plans to build the next phase of Grower Harvester reactors in Shenandoah.”

ABO also congratulated BioProcess Algae for their award, and noted that the federal government has played a role in advancing technologies that formed the basis for new industries for some time:

“We’re thrilled BioProcess Algae has been selected as one of four pilot biorefineries that will receive support to accelerate the availability of advanced, renewable biofuels,” said Mary Rosenthal, executive director of ABO. “The United States has a long history of supporting new energy technologies, and the Department of Energy’s selection is a testament to BioProcess Algae’s impressive progress and the potential for algae to provide America with renewable, domestic biofuels that don’t compete with food or fresh water.”

Congratulations to BioProcess Algae!