Author: Carrie Cox

Farm Bill Energy Title Programs Get Key Backing

Key Farm Bill Energy Title programs received a series of much-needed endorsements yesterday, offering hope as congressional negotiators continue work on FY2018 USDA funding and the next Farm Bill re-authorization. 
 
Senators Al Franken (D-MN), Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) yesterday introduced the Agricultural Energy Programs Reauthorization Act of 2017 which will reauthorize key rural energy and manufacturing programs in Title IX of the Farm Bill and provide robust funding through 2023. In addition to renewed funding, the proposal includes several ABO energy title policy priorities, including eligibility under the Sec. 9002 Biopreferred program for products from algae and other biomass produced using captured carbon. 
 
The bill’s introduction followed a new report from the Ag Energy Coalition yesterday on the importance of Farm Bill Energy Title programs and an Op-Ed from AEC Director, Lloyd Ritter, on the need for sustained funding. ABO is an AEC member. 
 
We still have our work cut out for us as Farm Bill energy programs continue to face opposition from some quarters, but these new developments offer our efforts a real boost. A tip of the cap to Lloyd and his team at AEC.
 

DOE Announces Four Additional PEAK Awards

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Bioenergy Technologies Office today announced the selection of four additional projects from the Productivity Enhanced Algae and ToolKits (PEAK) funding opportunity. The selected projects include numerous ABO member companies and institutions. Total funding for the seven PEAK awards announced to date (including the three previously announced awards) now tops $16 million. A big thanks to the Congressional Algae Caucus for the June 30 letter that got the ball rolling.

WSU Accelerates Algae Growth With New Research

One Pacific Northwest university is doing their best to innovate the algae industry. According to a Washington State University article by Tina Hilding, the school has developed a new method to grow algae more efficiently, taking only days instead of weeks.

Saving Time and Money

By accelerating growth rates, WSU’s research aims to open up the uses of algae to more industries. The research, led by graduate student Sandra Rincon and her professor Haluk Beyenal, created a “unique biofilm reactor that recycles gasses and uses less water and lower light than typical reactors. The algae produced was full of the fats that make it suitable for biodiesel production and ‘fatter’ than other biofilm reactors have produced. Because of a removable membrane, it was also easier to harvest than typical systems.”

The innovation doesn’t stop there, as the system also allows the algae to feed off of unsavory byproducts created during biodiesel production such as glycerol, as well as urea— a cheap chemical that provides the algae much-needed nitrogen.

Now, the researchers have applied to patent the technology and optimize the method.

Read more about the research at WSU’s news page.

Cutting edge research like this will be featured at the 2017 Algae Biomass Summit in Salt Lake City from October 29 through November 1. Make sure to sign up now, as the early bird rates expire on August 1.

DOE Announces $8 Million in Algae Funding

The U.S. Department of Energy has announced three projects that will receive up to $8 million in funding to further reduce the costs of producing algal biofuels and bioproducts.

ABO members Global Algae Innovations, Sapphire Energy and Lumen Bioscience were each chosen to receive funding, alongside Los Alamos National Lab, Sandia National Lab, NREL, and the University of California.

The announcement follows a June 30 letter from the bipartisan Congressional Algae Caucus to Energy Secretary Rick Perry urging him to issue the awards — as well as additional funding in the remaining budget for Fiscal Year 2017 — without delay.

ABO and its members are grateful for the coordinated effort from the Congressional Algae Caucus, and for their ongoing support of new technologies critical to the nation’s interests.

Congratulations to each of these projects! They are among hundreds of ABO members dedicated to advancing the role that algae plays in becoming a sustainable source of energy and bioproducts, as well as economic development.

As the Department of Energy notes, the funding will support “the development of a bioeconomy that can help create jobs, spur innovation, improve quality of life, and achieve national energy security.”

For more information on the funding or its recipients, see the energy department’s website here.