Author: Carrie Cox

The algae opportunity is attracting attention for its potential to disrupt dozens of markets. Congress is taking note too.

Following the success of early technology investments by the Department of Energy and other agencies, Congress has expanded federal support for this growing industry by including algae in the 2018 Farm Bill, reforming tax credits to ease investments, and ensuring carbon capture projects can become a reliable source of CO₂ feedstocks for algae cultivation.

Here are a few of the recent policy developments that ABO’s Executive Policy Committee is monitoring:

The Farm Bill of 2018 Classifies Algae as a Crop

Last December we heralded the unprecedented support for algae in the latest Farm Bill. This legislation calls on the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) to classify algae as a crop, with many of the same regulatory advantages enjoyed by wheat, corn or soy. It is a landmark achievement for the industry. 

The USDA is now preparing the rulemaking, requests for information and other processes that will make new R&D funding available, lay the foundations for new regulatory support, and even build insurance programs that will help make algae a major crop in the United States.

After a long campaign to get algae recognized in agriculture legislation, ABO’s attention will now shift to ensuring that the changes are implemented to maximum effect. We are working closely with USDA staff to provide the latest information and industry updates that can streamline the process.

With proper implementation, the Farm Bill will provide a major boost to algae R&D and efforts to bring new products and services to market.

Rulemaking for the Section 45Q Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) tax credit

A robust algae industry can deliver massive reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, but only if the infrastructure to transport CO₂ to algae cultivation facilities is put into place. ABO worked with a large coalition to pass a tax reform known as 45Q that will make investment in this kind of infrastructure much easier. Algae is specifically named as a pathway for carbon capture qualifying for this tax credit.

Now we are focusing on ensuring this reform is implemented in a way that provides the investment our members need to be successful. As the U.S. Treasury moves forward with rulemaking, ABO’s Executive Policy Council is mindful that project size limits, application requirements and other variables all must be inclusive of algae.

The USE-IT Act

New legislation has also been proposed that could boost algae, especially when it comes to carbon capture technologies. In the Senate, a bipartisan group has re-introduced the Utilizing Significant Emissions with Innovative Technologies (USE IT) Act, a bill that would support new technologies that can capture carbon from industrial sources, or even directly from the air. A companion bill in the House has been sponsored by Rep. Scott Peters (D-CA), co-chair of the Congressional Algae Caucus.

Passage of this legislation would be a significant driver of investment in algae and other technologies that will transform carbon emissions from an environmental challenge into economic opportunity.

EFFECT Act

This bill introduced by Senators Joe Manchin (D-WV), Lisa Murkowski, (R-AK) and others would provide new support for carbon utilization technology and deployment. Critically for algae, the bill calls for studies that can help overcome barriers and identify opportunities to commercialize carbon. ABO is working closely with Congressional offices to make sure the language in the bill is friendly to algae.

Master Limited Partnership (MLP) Reform

An MLP is a type of business organization that comes with significant tax advantages, but under U.S. law they can only be used by fossil fuel companies. Reforming MLP’s to include renewable energy would level the investment playing field, and accelerate the deployment of infrastructure vital to a robust algae industry.

ABO has been a long-time supporter of these reforms, and with momentum building even in some fossil energy quarters for a change, we may see legislation on this front advance soon.

More to come

Over the next few months ABO will be working closely on all of these initiatives and more. Policymakers are discovering that the challenges in food production, energy, and climate change are becoming more urgent than ever. Advanced algae technologies must be part of the solution.

Ready to get involved? Join ABO today, come to the Algae Biomass Summit, and tell your Congressional delegation to support policies that will accelerate the role algae can play in our economic, environmental and energy security.

ABO member Checkerspot announced this month that it has closed a $13M Series A funding round that will further propel the company’s technology that uses microalgae to make high-performance materials.

Checkerspot’s platform views microalgae triglycerides, or oils, as scaffolds that in combination with chemistry and fabrication can unlock a new revolution in sustainable manufacturing. Traditional sources of triglyceride feedstocks can include palm, soy and canola, and are used by hundreds of markets, from producers of beauty products to industrial materials. However, these traditional sources suffer from increasing challenges in production sustainability, as well as performance limits.

Checkerspot’s ability to modify the properties of microalgae fatty acids means the company can customize a product to meet very specific performance metrics. Those metrics might include a desired strength-to-weight ratio, water repellency, or a production process that is less reliant on expensive or toxic feedstocks.

Checkerspot illustrates how new approaches in biology and manufacturing are beginning to harness the natural potential of algae in ways that will have enormous impacts for global industries. It’s just one more way that ABO members are at the forefront of world-changing technology!

For more information check out Checkerspot’s press release, and this story at SynBioBeta.

This month the federal Biomass Research and Development (BR&D) Board unveiled a multi-agency strategy to accelerate innovative biomass technologies for affordable biofuels, bioproducts, and biopower. Algae cultivation is prominently featured among the suite of technologies the effort is harnessing. 

The B&RD Board is an interagency collaborative which is co-chaired by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). The new strategy document lays out a plan to address challenges in technology uncertainty; leverage government, academic, and industrial resources and capabilities; stimulate public-private partnerships; and generate new and useful technical information. 

The report identifies a number of areas specific to algae that can be addressed with improved R&D efforts, including:

• Growing and harvesting highly productive algae at large scale
• Fractionation and conversion of algae into fuels and products
• Addressing the resources needed for the distribution and utilization of a national algal industry
• Analytical assessments that can provide information on the improved sustainability profile of algae-based products

View the full report here (PDF).

ABO members are working closely with the new interagency group to ensure that they are able to coordinate with the industry’s leading research and commercialization efforts.