ABO Blog

Industry trade organization commends government efforts and urges further leadership

SEATTLE – August 12, 2009 – The Algae Biomass Organization (ABO), the trade association for the algae industry, today posted a copy of its comments it provided to the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Algal Biofuels Technology Roadmap on its website. The ABO encouraged DOE to do three things: provide a clear vision for its plans for algae-based fuels and energy; promote public-private partnerships to accelerate commercialization; and give algae parity with other feedstocks with regard to tax incentives, regulatory and other federal policies.

The comment period is the culmination of a nearly year-long process of information gathering from the DOE’s Office of Biomass Program. Beginning in December, when the DOE hosted a series of briefings until last week’s conclusion of the commenting period, the Office of Biomass Program has been working with scientists, academics, researchers, entrepreneurs, large companies and end users to more fully understand the potential for algae and best practices to commercialization.

The ABO along with member organizations have provided key insights throughout the process through testimony at workshops, briefings with DOE staff and elected officials, as well as the comments submitted to the DOE.

“The DOE Roadmap process is an important first step to identifying both barriers and opportunities for commercialization of next generation fuels and energy derived from algal-biomass,” said Mary Rosenthal, executive director of the ABO. “The ABO and our members hope this feedback will help the DOE more clearly understand not only the tremendous potential of algae, but also the practical steps needed to take to accelerate the fulfillment of that potential.”

The ABO’s three key recommendations for the DOE Roadmap were:

Provide a clearly defined destination: The Roadmap lacks a clearly defined and government authored vision for the industry in terms of productivity, sustainability, interface with other industries, and job creation. The ABO advocates that the Roadmap make recommendations on the research priorities required to achieve this vision given the current state of algal development. Accordingly, the ABO advises this new vision section of the roadmap should clearly point out how algae’s key attribute (beneficial reuse of CO2) will best meld into and transform the present industrial ecosystem into meeting our nation’s long-term environmental, jobs and energy security goals.

Promote public-private partnership: Because the private industry has the most up-to-date understanding of the specific techno-economic requirements for building and scaling an algae industry, the ABO recommends a public-private collaborative forum be convened to identify the most pressing research required to achieve a sustainable, productive and rapidly scalable algal industry. The ABO believes this forum should be ongoing to track the necessarily rapid public and private advancements within this industry.

Develop financial parity with other feedstocks: The ABO believes a key element to the success of algae biofuels industry will be the public and private investments that are made. Accordingly, the ABO believes the government should establish a system of financial and non-financial incentives that are in parity with other renewable energy technologies. The ABO supports an approach which would be focused on national economic and environmental outcomes rather than technology specific policies.

The ABO believes with the U.S. Government’s continued support, the industry will make a significant impact on addressing the country’s need to achieve a more secure energy future while also reducing the carbon footprint of its energy options. A copy of the full comments is available on the ABO website..

About the ABO
The Algae Biomass Organization (ABO) is a non-profit organization whose mission is to promote and advocate for the development of commercially-viable transportation and power generation fuels as well as other non-energy applications for algae biomass. 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.

Contact:
John Williams, Scoville PR for ABO
206-625-0075,  jwilliams@scovillepr.com

Registration for premier algae industry conference now open

SEATTLE – July 22, 2009 – The 2009 Algae Biomass Summit announced today that J. Craig Venter, Ph.D., renowned scientist and CEO of Synthetic Genomics Inc (SGI), will be the keynote speaker at this year’s event. The Algae Biomass Summit is the official conference of the Algae Biomass Organization (ABO) and takes place this year October 7-9 in San Diego. Registration for the conference is now available at  www.algaebiomass.org/events/.

The Algae Biomass Summit is the algae industry’s premier global conference and is designed to highlight scientific advances and encourage knowledge sharing to accelerate the development of algae-based solutions for global energy, environmental and economic issues.

Dr. Venter, who is well known as a leader in genomics for sequencing the first draft human genome in 2001 and his complete human genome in 2007, is the co-founder of SGI, which is dedicated to using genomic-driven advances to address a variety of global issues including energy and the environment. SGI recently announced a $600 million alliance with ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company to develop next generation biofuels using photosynthetic algae. Prior to this announcement, SGI announced deals with BP in exploring biological conversion of subsurface hydrocarbons and a deal with Malaysian company, ACGT to explore oil producing crops such as oil palm and jatropha. His presentation at the Algae Biomass Summit is titled “From reading to writing the genetic code.”

“Dr. Venter is a scientific pioneer and strong advocate for next generation biofuels,” said Mary Rosenthal, executive director of the Algae Biomass Organization. “He is applying his success with genomes in ways that have the potential to help algae-based solutions deliver on the promise of renewable and sustainable energy.”
In 1995 Dr. Venter and his team of researchers decoded the genome of the first free-living organism, the bacterium Haemophilus influenzae, using his new whole genome shotgun technique. Since then, he and his teams have now sequenced hundreds of genomes using his techniques and tools.

Dr. Venter, formerly a researcher at the National Institutes of Health, is the author of more than 200 research articles and the recipient of numerous honorary degrees, public honors, and scientific awards, including the 2001 Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize, and the 2002 Gairdner Foundation International Award. He is also a member of the National Academy of Sciences. Dr. Venter has also been selected twice to  Time (magazine)” Time Magazine’s “Time 100” Time 100” list of the most influential people in the world.

About the ABO
The Algae Biomass Organization (ABO) is a non-profit organization whose mission is to promote and advocate for the development of commercially-viable transportation and power generation fuels as well as other non-energy applications for algae biomass. 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.

Contact:
John Williams, Scoville PR for ABO
206-625-0075,  jwilliams@scovillepr.com

Industry organization expands leadership group to help accelerate growth of algae industry

SEATTLE – May 27, 2009 – The Algae Biomass Organization (ABO) today announced the appointment of four new board members, and the re-election of an existing board member. The additional board members will help the organization increase its efforts to help develop the industry as increasingly algal biomass is being considered as a vital resource for clean and renewable energy.

The board members represent a wide range of industries, organizations and companies, in keeping with the ABO’s commitment to developing a membership from across the value chain. The board makeup now includes representatives from academia, professional services, technology and project development and end-users. Newly elected directors include:

Dr. Ira Levine, associate professor at the University of Southern Maine and vice president of Biological Services, Inc.

Dr. Margaret McCormick, general manager, Bio-based Materials Program at Targeted Growth, Inc.

John Pierce, member at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati and one of the leaders if of its Renewable Energy and CleanTech Practice, as well as the catalyst for the formation of the ABO

Elizabeth Willett, business development and commercial manager, Mars Symbioscience, a division of Mars, Inc., and

Dr. Philip Pienkos, a founding board member of ABO and supervisor of the Applied Biology Group at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, who was re-elected to a second term.

Founded one year ago, the Algae Biomass Organization (ABO) is a non-profit organization whose mission is to promote and advocate for the development of commercially-viable transportation and power generation fuels as well as other non-energy applications for algal biomass. The volunteer-led organization has a number of operating sub-committees aimed at helping member companies and advancing the industry, including Technical Standards, Government Relations and Peer Review. The ABO also produces the annual Algae Biomass Summit, which last year drew more than 700 attendees from more than 20 countries.

Membership in ABO has expanded significantly in the past year, with dozens of individuals, companies, organizations, and research institutions joining to support the industry. Members of the organization, which recently held its first annual meeting in Washington, D.C., met with several members of Congress and their staffers to help educate them on the potential of algae as a key renewable and sustainable fuel and energy source. This outreach is increasingly important given the $786.5 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act recently pledged to accelerate advanced biofuels research and sustainable energy development, including algae.

There were three key requests they made to elected officials. First, that the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) should be amended to either include algae, or to be technology neutral; second, that algae-derived fuels should receive tax parity with incentives for biodiesel and cellulosic ethanol; third, that Congress should make funding opportunities currently available to cellulosic biofuel producers similarly accessible to producers of algae-based products and processes.

The ABO is currently accepting papers and presentation abstracts for the 2009 Algae Biomass Summit via the website through July 5, 2009. Final decisions will be made and an agenda will be posted on the website shortly after.

About the ABO
The Algae Biomass Organization (ABO) is a non-profit organization whose mission is to promote and advocate for the development of commercially-viable transportation and power generation fuels as well as other non-energy applications for algae biomass. 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.

Contact:
John Williams, Scoville PR for ABO
206-625-0075,  jwilliams@scovillepr.com