Carrie Cox – Page 157

The First National Algae Testbed

Creating commercial quantities of biofuel from algae can be accelerated with smart public-private partnerships that bridge the research and development of new technologies with the large-scale production and operations that will be required to bring the new fuels and other products to market.

That’s why last week’s news from the Department of Energy is so good for algae’s prospects. DOE announced last Tuesday that a $15 million award for advancing algae production will go to supporting efforts at the Arizona State University led Algae Testbed Public-Private Partnership (ATP³).

This makes ATP³ the nation’s first algae technology testbed.

What’s a testbed? ATP³ is a network of research institutions and companies that will pool resources in a way that allows new algae technologies, strains and techniques to be tested and evaluated for their potential to succeed at large-scale production. The ability to conduct this kind of testing can boost new industries that are perfecting technologies in laboratory settings.

The DOE support of a national algae testbed shows that the incredible milestones the algae industry has achieved over the past few years, coupled with steady technical improvement, are convincing evidence that algae commercialization must be accelerated.

Given that the state government in Arizona has already passed sensible laws that support algae business, and that Arizona State has deep experience in algae research, it is likely that ATP³will be adding to the number of milestones already achieved.

You can read more about the ATP³testbed and participating organizations at ASU News.

Algae innovation and commercialization will be hot topics at the Algae Biomass Summit in Denver, Colorado that is running September 24-27. Find out more and register here!

Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper to Address Algae Biomass Summit

Address kicks off agenda of regional and national leaders in rapidly growing industry producing biofuels, sustainable chemicals, feed and food products from algae

Denver, CO (September 13, 2012) The 6^th Annual Algae Biomass Summit, the official conference of the Algae Biomass Organization and the world’s largest algae industry gathering, today announced that Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper will deliver the opening keynote address when the event convenes in Denver on Monday, September 24^th. Governor Hickenlooper will welcome the industry to Colorado and discuss the importance developing algae-derived fossil fuel replacements and other products for the economy and energy independence.

The governor’s keynote will kick off a conference which features more than 200 poster and live presentations from industry leaders in algae research, commercialization and policy. Immediately following the governor’s address, executives from some of the top algae companies will discuss their own companies as well as pressing industry issues. Moderated by Biofuels Digest Editor Jim Lane, the session will feature Alex Aravanis, Chief Science Officer of Sapphire Energy; Tim Burns, Chief Executive Officer of BioProcess Algae; Martin Sabarsky, Chief Executive Officer of Cellana; Dan Simon, Chief Executive Officer of Heliae; and Paul Woods, Chief Executive Officer at Algenol Biofuels. Hailing from Colorado, L. Hunter Lovins, President of Natural Capitalism Solutions will give a keynote address on Tuesday, September 25^th that will highlight unique combination of economic and environmental benefits that comes with algae.

“Colorado is home to some of the leading algae research and commercialization efforts and Governor Hickenlooper has been a strong advocate of clean energy and the benefits it can bring in terms of jobs, energy security and environmental sustainability,” said Mary Rosenthal, Executive Director of ABO. “The Governor’s decision to address the Summit is a reflection of how important the expanding algae industry is to finding new sources of renewable fuels, chemicals, feed and food without adverse impacts on water usage or valuable agricultural land.”

The 6^th Algae Biomass Summit will be held at the Sheraton Denver Downtown Hotel September 24-27. With an expected 90 live and 120 poster presentations, an expanded exhibition hall and record pre-registrations the 2012 Summit is on track to be the largest since the annual event began. The 2011 Algae Biomass Summit was attended by more than 800 stakeholders from more than 25 countries across the algae industry.

The Summit comes at a time when industry is increasingly looking for new sources of sustainable raw materials—feedstock—for a wide range of end uses. Products made from algae are the natural solution to the energy, food, economic, and climate challenges facing the world today. Algae have the power to simultaneously put fuels in vehicles, recycle 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 Summit is produced by the Algal Biomass Organization, the trade association for the US algae Industry. More information about the Summit can be found at: www.algaebiomasssummit.org.

About the Algal Biomass Organization

The Algal 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.

Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper to Open Algae Biomass Summit

The big announcement today from the Algae Biomass Organization is that Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper will give an opening keynote at the Algae Biomass Summit in Denver on September 24.

From the press release:

“Colorado is home to some of the leading algae research and commercialization efforts and Governor Hickenlooper has been a strong advocate of clean energy and the benefits it can bring in terms of jobs, energy security and environmental sustainability,” said Mary Rosenthal, Executive Director of ABO. “The Governor’s decision to address the Summit is a reflection of how important the expanding algae industry is to finding new sources of renewable fuels, chemicals, feed and food without adverse impacts on water usage or valuable agricultural land.”

The Algae Biomass Summit, the largest algae conference in the world will convene in Denver Sept 24-27. Since it’s beginning six years ago the Summit has become the gathering and networking event for algae entrepreneurs, major corporations, suppliers, manufacturers, producers, end-users and policy experts. Some of the accolades from previous Summits:

“Invaluable information for all kinds of aspects of the whole algae industry.”
–Linxing Yao, Iowa State University

“The ABO summit provided the right mix of industry, academia, and interested investors, committed to building and expanding the role of algae in biofuels, feeds, and products. Collaborations and partnerships developed at ABO will influence the field and industry for decades to come.”
–Ryan Dorland, Ph.D., Cellana LLC

“It was one of the best conferences I’ve attended.”
–Lauro André Ribeiro, University of Coimbra

This year we are expecting one of the largest crowds yet, with attendees coming from around the world to discuss the latest breakthroughs and milestones, and to plan for the industry’s next steps.

Click here for more information and to register!

We Need New Sources of Fuel

This week Mary Rosenthal, executive director of the Algae Biomass Organization, joins other energy leaders in a discussion about the United States’ energy independence in the National Journal’s Energy Expert Blog.

Mary notes that demand for fuels is going to continue, eventually surpassing the ability of fossil fuel supplies to be sufficient. If we want the benefits of improved energy independence, we can’t rely exclusively on existing sources, and the unique advantages of algae will make these incredibly efficient organisms an increasingly attractive option.

“If we want independence (the ability to produce more than we consume, forever), we can’t rely on sources of energy derived from finite resources. In the case of the algae industry, our “wells” are aboveground, never need digging and never run dry. Supporting technologies such as these will help get us a long way towards independence.”

To read Mary’s full response, and those of other experts, click here.

Algae Throttles Up and Spurs Biofuel Startups

Here is a great article by Todd Woody, Environmental Editor at Forbes. Woody had the incredible fortune to be on board a biofueled Navy C-2A Greyhound that landed in Oahu this July, and visit Sapphire Energy’s Green Crude Farm in New Mexico late last month.

“Algae is one of the great green hopes for creating a biofuels industry that can reach the scale necessary to bring down costs and compete against fossil fuels.”

Woody examines the role the military can play in developing biofuels—just as it has with many other technologies, and checks in with some of the algae industry’s cutting-edge progress. Check out the full article here.