Besides attracting leading algae researchers, executives and investors, the Algae Biomass Summit is also partnered with some of the leading media organizations and trade newsletters that cover advances in algae-related markets.
Thanks to each of these organizations for the hard work of telling algae’s story, and for sponsoring the Algae Biomass Summit!
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“The only profitable way to capture carbon right now is utilization, to grow something with it.”
That’s what Tim Burns, CEO of BioProcess Algae, says in a new article in E&E News about the algae industry’s desire to use carbon dioxide from power generation to grow algae that can be transformed into valuable fuels, foods and chemicals. The process can remove CO2 destined for the atmosphere, displace petroleum that would have to be drilled from underground, and create revenue from CO2 mitigation, rather than the costs that come from disposal options such as sequestration.
The E&E News story is about the increasing number of voices coming from algae entrepreneurs that are concerned about what kind of technologies the EPA will allow as it begins to regulate carbon dioxide emissions:
Algae companies need to feed their microorganisms a steady diet of carbon dioxide, but EPA has not formally recognized their technologies in its proposals to stem greenhouse gas emissions from new and existing power plants. The companies worry that without government endorsement, power plants would have little incentive to give away their carbon for reuse.
Without a clear policy that carbon capture and utilization is an acceptable way to reduce CO2 emissions the algae industry is faced with another barrier just as a number of companies are stepping into commercial production.
Some of the ABO members that will soon be looking for large amounts of CO2 include BioProcess Algae, as well as Sapphire Energy, Algenol and Cellana.
Read the full article and watch an interview with ABO’s executive director Matt Carr on the topic here.
Today is the last chance to get the early bird rate for the 8th Annual Algae Biomass Summit in San Diego!
This special rate expires at midnight Central Time on August 1st.
Join the hundreds of people that have already registered! Don’t miss this chance to network with leaders from across the rapidly growing and dynamic algae industry.
The Algae Biomass Summit will feature the latest innovations and milestones in algae biology, engineering, commercialization, finance and policy.
The entire range of algae-derived products are represented at this exciting event: fuels, feeds, plastics, specialty chemicals and more.
Check out the latest additions to the Summit’s exciting agenda. New speakers and special events are being added daily!
San Diego area tours will offer a first-hand look at algae cultivation and research facilities. Sign up to visit the Imperial Valley’s Algae Facilities and La Jolla’s Famous Biotech Mesa.
See you in San Diego!
Earlier this week ABO’s Executive Director Matt Carr provided commentary to a panel of representatives from the EPA on the agency’s proposed new rules for power plants, designed to reduce overall emissions of carbon dioxide.
Matt showcased the potential of algae to be an asset to power plants seeking compliance with the rule. By feeding waste CO2 to algae, emitters have a powerful new motivation for compliance: profit.
Matt noted: “By creating a market for captured carbon, carbon utilization can mitigate, offset, or even negate the cost of carbon capture, providing a CO2 reduction mechanism that minimizes the cost to ratepayers. Algae producers need CO2 and will pay power producers to get it.”
This notion – that CO2 has value – is at the heart of the argument that ABO is making on the Hill. Right now, EPA regulations only recognize “sequestration” (aka burial) as an approved strategy for emissions reduction. The problem is that this imposes a cost on emitters (and consequently their customers, the US taxpayer.
ABO believes offering emitters a carrot (a revenue generating market for their waste CO2) instead of a stick (a costly technology required for legal compliance) will accelerate the development of carbon capture and utilization technologies that will not only reduce emissions, but create a bevy of new, low-carbon products that create jobs and enhance our food and energy security.
ABO is concerned, however, that by making no mention of carbon capture and utilization (CCU) while affirmatively recognizing other compliance options, including carbon capture and sequestration/storage (CCS), the proposed rule risks sending the signal to states – and to investors – that carbon utilization is not a preferred mitigation strategy. This is a profound missed opportunity and one which ABO is determined to make sure does not happen.
You can read Matt’s full testimony here (PDF). You can see him make the case on E&E TV by clicking here.
Next week several algae industry leaders will be in Washington, DC attending Biomass 2014, the annual conference hosted by the Department of Energy’s Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO). Some of the Algae Biomass Organization members on the program include: