ABO Blog – Page 94

Deadline for Summit Abstracts Approaching

The deadline approaches for submitting abstracts for speaking and poster opportunities for the 2015 Algae Biomass Summit. This year we will be at the Marriott Washington Wardman Park in Washington, DC, September 30th to October 2nd.

The first priority deadline is March 16, 2015. Abstracts submitted after this date will be reviewed as they are received.

Expose your business and research to the world’s largest gathering of algal thought leaders. Abstracts selected for speaking slots receive a discount for registration to the Summit.

Click here to submit your abstract!

Matrix Genetics Unlocks Potential of Algae to Produce Commercial Quantities of Sustainable Pigments & Proteins

ABO member Matrix Genetics has announced a technology breakthrough that allows for rapid and efficient production of pigments and proteins in Spirulina, a species of cyanobacteria (blue-green algae). This discovery will offer the food industry a new, scalable and sustainable source of safe ingredients that meet the increasing demands of consumers.

A lot of food colorings and other food ingredients are made from petroleum, synthetic processes or come with health concerns. Even many of the natural food dyes and ingredients used today come from unsustainable sources, like the palm oil that leads to forest degradation. Upping the production of algae-derived alternatives means they can be made without major freshwater impacts and even on non-agricultural lands such as deserts.

Before this advance from Matrix Genetics, the global production of Spirulina had been held back by the lack of efficient genetic engineering. Matrix has broken through this bottleneck by being the first to invent rapid and efficient genetic methods for modifying Spirulina. These methods have been long sought after by the algal industry, but have proven elusive.

Read more about Matrix Genetics’ breakthrough here.

NETL Announces Funding Opportunity for Algae Industry on CO2 Utilization

~~Application Deadline: March 9, 2015~~
New Deadline: March 16, 2015

The National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) has recently added algae to an existing funding opportunity announcement (FOA) aimed at R&D for “Transformational Carbon Dioxide Capture Technologies for Coal-Fired Power Plants.” The funding opportunity was amended to insert a new area of interest: Area of Interest 4 – Biological CO2 Use/Conversion, and the FOA specifically states, “For the purpose of this solicitation, biological use/conversion applications should be limited to aquatic species, such as microalgae and blue-green algae (cyanobacteria).”

This is significant policy advancement for the algae industry and one that ABO has been actively pushing. We applaud NETL for their interest in algae as a means of utilizing CO2. This solicitation is an effort by the Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory to gather information they need to determine whether they should make future investments in algae as a means of reducing CO2 in the atmosphere. NETL is specifically interested in algae’s capacity to reduce atmospheric CO2 as well as the technological and economic feasibility of algae CO2 utilization. NETL is most interested in technologies which produce bulk commodities like fuel and chemicals.

You can find the full documentation for this opporttunity on FedConnect.net:

https://www.fedconnect.net/FedConnect/?doc=DE-FOA-0001235&agency=DOE

Algae Biomass Organization Announces Two New Board Members

Al Darzins, R&D Director at Gas Technology Institute and James Levine, CEO of Sapphire Energy join ABO leadership as industry continues to expand breadth of product offerings

WASHINGTON, DC (February 10, 2015) The Algae Biomass Organization (ABO), the trade association for the algae industry, today announced that Dr. Al Darzins, Research & Development Director at Gas Technology Institute (GTI) and James Levine, CEO of Sapphire Energy have been appointed to the ABO Board of Directors.

“As the algae industry continues to spawn new companies, new technologies and address new markets, Al and Jamie’s perspectives and experiences will be valuable additions to our board,” said Matt Carr, Executive Director of the Algae Biomass Organization. “Their combined deep experience in biotechnology, Fortune 100 companies, global finance, publicly traded companies and DOE national labs will add important perspectives and voices to our focus and execution.”
ABO’s board of directors guides the organization in its mission to educate the general public, policymakers, and industry about the benefits and potential of algae to provide sustainable solutions for commodity chemicals, fuels, food, and feed applications, as well as for high-value applications such as nutraceuticals, pharmaceuticals, and cosmetics, among others. In addition, ABO’s board works closely with its executive director to advocate for policies that can accelerate the development of key market segments and commercial-scale algae production facilities for the full range of products that can be made from algae.

ABO’s board is comprised of representatives from multiple sectors of an industry that is experiencing more investment and seeing new commercial facilities opening or being planned around the world. Board members come from industry sectors that include academia, research institutes, professional services, algae biomass producers, technology suppliers, project developers, and end-users.

Dr. Al Darzins is an R&D Director at the Gas Technology Institute (GTI), a leading not-for-profit research, development and training organization with a legacy of expertise in biomass conversion technology development and deployment, where he is responsible for biotechnology-based research efforts in alternative energy and renewable fuels development. He served as ABO’s Program Co-chair for the 2014 Algae Biomass Summit (ABS) and is currently the Program Chair for the 2015 Summit that will be held in Washington, DC, September 30-October 2.

Prior to joining GTI, Dr. Darzins was a Research Manager in DuPont’s Biofuels division where he led an enzyme engineering effort and managed an ARPA-e funded macroalgae to biobutanol project. He has also held a position at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), where he managed biofuel technology development, re-established the organization’s long-dormant microalgal biomass program, and played an instrumental role in helping to organize the DOE’s National Algal Biofuels Technology Roadmap workshop.

James Levine joined Sapphire Energy as Chief Executive Officer in July 2014. He was formerly president and CEO of Verenium Corp., a NASDAQ-listed industrial biotechnology company that develops commercial-scale enzyme solutions using proprietary and patented technologies for industries worldwide. At Verenium, he fostered and managed the company’s most critical partnerships, including BP, which acquired the company’s cellulosic ethanol unit in 2010, as well as DuPont, Royal DSM, Bunge North America, Cargill, Novus International Inc., Colgate-Palmolive Co. and Tate & Lyle PLC, among others. Each of these partnerships enabled the application of Verenium’s technology in global food, fuels and animal nutrition markets. He also he led the company through its acquisition by BASF Corp. in late 2013. Prior to Verenium, Levine was a managing director in the global energy group at Goldman Sachs & Co.

Products made from algae are the natural solution to the energy, food, economic, and climate challenges facing the world today. This tiny but 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.

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.

Why bioenergy with carbon capture, utilization and storage? BECCUS.

Matt Carr, Executive Director, Algae Biomass Organization

In a paper published yesterday, researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, find that biomass power generation, when combined with carbon capture and sequestration (CCS), is a potential negative carbon power source. Because plants remove CO2 from the atmosphere during growth, capture and underground storage of CO2 from biomass combustion can result in net reductions of atmospheric CO2 concentrations. This bioenergy with carbon capture and sequestration (BECCS) approach, the authors conclude, could be a key strategy to mitigating climate change.

The authors have it almost right. Capturing carbon from combustion of biogenic carbon does indeed provide a double carbon benefit to the atmosphere. But the best bang for the buck is delivered when, as in the case of algae-based carbon capture and utilization (CCU), that captured carbon is reused to produce yet more energy that substitutes for fossil fuels. Such a bioenergy with carbon capture and utilization approach (which I here christen BECCU) is a triple play for climate, absorbing carbon upstream, avoiding emissions at the power plant, and keeping fossil carbon stored for all time by substituting algae-based alternatives for fossil-derived fuels. It’s a AAA-rated approach! And, unlike underground storage, BECCU comes with a strong business case: revenue generated from carbon utilization can help offset, or even negate, the cost of carbon capture. In the case of algae-based CCU, there is even the added potential for co-production of new sources of proteins, plastics, and a host of other valuable products, further enhancing both the environmental and economic sustainability of the system.

We need look no further than the corn fields of Iowa to see BECCU in action – though in a slightly different form. BioProcess Algae’s project with Green Plains, Inc., in Shenandoah, Iowa, shows just how carbon- (and cash-) efficient energy systems can be with BECCU. In capturing biogenic carbon from the corn ethanol fermentation process, BioProcess and Green Plains deliver the same climate triple play as in the power plant scenario while enhancing the economics and environmental profile of corn ethanol production.

Granted, there may be some scenarios where underground storage is still the best available option. So, let’s go with an all-encompassing net negative carbon acronym. Why bioenergy with carbon capture, utilization and storage? BECCUS.