ABO Blog

Congratulations to Poet-DSM’s Project Liberty, a New Era for Biofuels

Today Poet-DSM announced the opening of a first-of-its kind cellulosic ethanol plant in Iowa, a facility that will use 770 tons of corn cobs, leaves and husks to produce up to 25 million gallons of cellulosic ethanol a year. Called Project Liberty, the facility is an enormous achievement for advanced biofuels.

The Algae Biomass Organization congratulates its member company, DSM, as well its its Poet-DSM venture and its partners who are leading the way in bringing the next generation of biofuels, regardless of feedstock, into commercial production.

The commercial production of cellulosic biofuels is an important milestone towards a more sustainable energy future, one that paves the way for the biobased economy of the future that will include fuels and other products from a universe of sustainable, domestically produced feedstocks, including algae.

The members of the ABO look forward to the day when competitive biofuels produced from a range of domestically produced feedstocks can displace fossil fuels, providing secure energy, jobs and a cleaner environment.

Notice of DOE Funding Opportunity

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy intends to issue, on behalf of the Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO), a funding opportunity announcement (FOA), “Targeted Algal Biofuels and Bioproducts.”

BETO’s 2019 projected state of technology for the cost of algal biofuels is modeled at about $7 per gallon gasoline gallon equivalent, without valuable co-products such as animal feed or commodity chemicals. This FOA seeks to improve the value proposition for algal biofuels by employing multi-disciplinary consortia to produce algae bioproduct precursors (alongside fuel components), as well as single-investigator or small-team technology development projects focused on crop protection and CO2 utilization technologies for improving biomass productivity. BETO hopes these strategies will enable a 30-50% cost reduction for algal biofuels.

It is anticipated that this FOA will be posted to EERE Exchange September 2014. To see the full notice of intent, visit the EERE Exchange website.
Note that this is not a funding announcement but a notice to interested parties that they should begin to prepare for an upcoming funding announcement.

Algae Biomass Summit Showcases Innovation in Algae Engineering

SAN DIEGO, CA. (August 27, 2014) — The Engineering and Analysis track of the 8th Annual Algae Biomass Summit, taking place in San Diego, California, September 29-October 2 will highlight a wide range of new technologies and scientific breakthroughs in algae production systems. Through more than 30 presentations, leading scientists, researchers, and industry innovators will discuss papers and offer presentations on the new methods for analyzing and producing algae-based products such as fuels, animal feed, Omega-3 fatty acids, bioplastics and chemicals. Registration and agenda information is available at http://algaebiomasssummit.org.

“The research breakthroughs on display at this year’s Summit will highlight how our growing understanding of algae cultivation, harvesting and processing is building a brand new industry that can provide sustainable products and services,” said Dr. Anthony Marchese, Director, Engines and Energy Conversion Laboratory at Colorado State University and Chair of the Summit’s Engineering & Analysis track, “A wide range of industrial and consumer markets will benefit from the advances in algae engineering and analysis that we will be discussing at the Summit.”

A few of the many high quality speakers and presentations from the Engineering and Analysis track include:

  • Todd Lane, Sandia National Laboratories
    Major Nutrient Recycling for Sustainable Algal Production
  • Tryg Lundquist, California Polytechnic State University
    Towards Scale-Up of Wastewater-Based Algae Biofuels
  • Mathias Mostertz, Linde
    Carbon Dioxide Management for Enhanced Plant Growth: Learning from Terrestrial Plants to Full Solutions for Algae Biofuels
  • Neil Osterwalder, Sapphire Energy
    Co-Processing of Green Crude in Existing Petroleum Refineries
  • Ali Malekizadeh, The University of Queensland
    Development of Low or No-Energy-Input Microalgae Harvesting Techniques

The Engineering and Analysis track is one of three tracks, plus plenary sessions and posters, which comprise the agenda for the Algae Biomass Summit, the world’s largest conference focused on algae-based technologies. In total, there are expected to be more than 100 live presentations during the Summit. San Diego is a hub of algae industry activity, and hundreds of entrepreneurs, researchers, investors and users of algal products are expected at the event.

The Summit comes at a time when industry is increasingly looking for new sources of alternative fuels, feed stocks, and consumer products. Products made from algae are the natural solution to the energy, food, economic, and climate challenges facing the world today. This tiny powerful organism has the ability to simultaneously put fuels in vehicles, reuse CO2, provide nutrition for animals and people and create jobs for millions of Americans. More information can be found at www.allaboutalgae.com.

The Algae Biomass Organization (ABO), the trade association for the US algae Industry, produces the Algae Biomass Summit. More information about the Summit can be found at www.algaebiomasssummit.org.

About the Algae Biomass Organization

The Algae Biomass Organization (ABO) is a 501 c(6) non-profit whose mission is to promote the development of viable commercial markets for renewable and sustainable commodities derived from algae. Its membership is comprised of people, companies and organizations across the value chain. More information about ABO, including its leadership, membership, costs, benefits and members and their affiliations, is available at the website: www.algaebiomass.org.

 

Call for Papers on Bioenergy for Special Issue of Technology

The editors of a special issue of Technology magazine have issued a call for papers on both fundamental and applied issues in bioenergy that may be of interest to many algae researchers.

Technology is a new journal that  aims to publish papers that are technology-driven and can be applied to a broad spectrum of problems. They will be reviewing a mixture of papers coming from academia and industrial research for this special issue.

ABO members and algae industry researchers who would like to learn more about submitting manuscripts before the November 1st deadline should check out the magazine’s official call for papers (PDF).

Algae Biomass Summit Features Latest Breakthroughs in Algae Biology Research

San Diego, CA (August 18, 2014) —The 8th Annual Algae Biomass Summit, taking place in San Diego, California, September 29-October 2 will showcase almost 30 presentations by leading research scientists and experts from universities, companies and several national laboratories in its Progress in Algal Biology track. The sessions will inform technical audiences about the latest algae strain improvement methods involving ‘omics’ and genetic manipulation, and growth and cultivation methods that are making possible the wide-scale commercial production of algae-based products.

“The importance of the increasing number of advances in biology research on display at this year’s Summit cannot be understated,” said Dr. Mark Hildebrand, Director of the Marine Biology Research Division at Scripps Institution of Oceanography and Chair of the Summit’s Progress in Algal Biology track. “Summit attendees will be engaged in discussions regarding the latest algae-related research and its broad implications for commercial production of algae-derived products in the food, feed, fuel and other commodity markets.”

A few of the many high quality speakers and presentations in the Biology track include:

  • Robert McBride, Sapphire Energy
    Impacts of Pond Management Strategies, Community Composition and Dynamics in Open Algae Pond for the Production of Biofuels
  • Orly Levitan, Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
    The Intelligent Design of Algal Biofuels
  • Jonathan Shurin, University of California – San Diego
    Experimental Risk Assessment for Dispersal, Invasion, and Impact on Wild Algae of Genetically-Modified Scenedesmus dimorphus
  • Jesse Traller, Scripps Institution of Oceanography
    Genome and Methylome of a Candidate Biofuel Organism Provides Insights into Carbon Flux and Regulation
  • Paul Roessler, Algenol Biofuels, Inc.
    Photosynthetic production of biofuels from CO2 by cyanobacteria using Algenol’s “Direct to Ethanol®” process: Strain development aspects

The Progress in Algal Biology track is one of four tracks, plus plenary sessions and posters, which comprise the agenda for the Algae Biomass Summit, the largest algae conference in the world. In total, there will be more than 100 live presentations during the Summit. San Diego is a hub of algae industry activity, and hundreds of entrepreneurs, researchers, investors and users of algal products are expected at the event.

The Summit comes at a time when the world is increasingly looking for new sources of alternative fuels, feed stocks, and consumer products. Products made from algae are the natural solution to the energy, food, economic, and climate challenges facing the world today. This tiny powerful organism has the ability to simultaneously put fuels in vehicles, reuse CO2, provide nutrition for animals and people and create jobs for millions of Americans. More information can be found at www.allaboutalgae.com.

The Algae Biomass Organization (ABO), the trade association for the US algae Industry, produces the Algae Biomass Summit. More information about the Summit can be found at www.algaebiomasssummit.org.

About the Algae Biomass Organization

The Algae Biomass Organization (ABO) is a 501 c(6) non-profit whose mission is to promote the development of viable commercial markets for renewable and sustainable commodities derived from algae. Its membership is comprised of people, companies and organizations across the value chain. More information about ABO, including its leadership, membership, costs, benefits and members and their affiliations, is available at the website: www.algaebiomass.org.