Algae Among the Top 40 Hottest Companies in the Biobased Economy

hot40Last night at the ABLC NEXT 2015 conference in San Francisco Biofuels Digest released its ranking of the Hottest 40 Companies in the Biobased Economy and we are excited to report two algae companies have made the list!

Joule and Cellana are both Algae Biomass Organization members that have made great strides harnessing algae to be source of fuels, feeds and other products.

The Hot 40 is an annual ranking of small companies that are making waves deploying biobased technologies that will revolutionize a number of markets. Algae cultivation and processing technologies are among the most productive when it comes to sustainably producing the proteins, oils and fuels the world will need in the coming decades. We’re not surprised to see them listed among so many other exciting approaches.

Congratulations to Joule and Cellana!

 

Algae Biomass Organization Announces Phoenix, Arizona as Location of 10th Annual Algae Biomass Summit

WASHINGTON, DC (October 27, 2015) The Algae Biomass Organization (ABO), the trade association for the algae industry, announced today that the 10th Annual Algae Biomass Summit will take place October 23-27, 2016 at the Renaissance Glendale Phoenix Hotel & Spa in Phoenix, Arizona. ABO expects more than 600 attendees from countries around the world to come to the event to learn the newest breakthroughs in algae technology, network with industry leaders, and see Arizona’s algae innovation first-hand through regional research and commercial facility tours.

The region has quickly become a hub of algae research and commercial activity. With ABO members Heliae, the US Department of Energy-funded Algae Testbed Public-Private Partnership (ATP3), the Arizona Center for Algae Technology and Innovation (AzCATI), as well as programs at Arizona State University, Phoenix is home to major efforts to commercialize algae-based products in a variety of end markets.

“Arizona is the place to be for algae,” said Matt Carr, executive director of ABO. “At the 2016 Summit we will launch the Arizona Pavilion in the exhibit hall, a dedicated area designed to showcase multiple Arizona-based companies. We’re also partnering with leaders in Arizona’s algae community to develop captivating tours that showcase the region’s innovation in technology.”

Speakers and attendees at the Algae Biomass Summit will include national and international technologists, producers, scientists, investors, and end user companies. During the course of the event, leaders and attendees will discuss issues of critical importance to the emerging algae industry, including the commercial viability of algal production, current government and private initiatives, evolving technologies, processing concepts, life cycle analysis and project finance.

“We are very excited to host hundreds of algae experts and enthusiasts in the heart of Arizona’s dynamic algae industry,” said John McGowen, Director of Operations and Program Management for AzCATI and ATP3. “Arizona is home to groundbreaking research in algae-related sciences, comprehensive industry training programs and impressive commercialization projects, making it the perfect location for the tenth anniversary of the world’s most important algae conference.”

More information about the Algae Biomass Summit can be found at www.algaebiomasssummit.org.

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 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: algaebiomass.org. 

DOE awards Duke $5.2 million for marine algae biofuel research

The Department of Energy has awarded the Duke University-led Marine Algae Industrialization Consortium (MAGIC) $5.2 million to help develop algae products beyond oil for biofuels. The purpose of the effort is to build an algae supply chain that is more economically viable. Products in the MAGIC program include feeds for livestock, fish, and food for humans from algae proteins.

Congratulations to Duke and the MAGIC consortium!

Duke University’s student newspaper, The Chronicle, goes in depth with the team and their research. 

 

Six Students Win Young Algae Researcher Awards at Algae Biomass Summit

Six student scientists were presented with the fourth annual Young Algae Researcher Awards earlier this month for their contributions to fields of algae biology and engineering at the 2015 Algae Biomass Summit, the official conference of the Algae Biomass Organization (ABO).

Posters at the 2015 Algae Biomass Summit
Posters at the 2015 Algae Biomass Summit

The awards are presented at the world’s largest gathering of algae industry and academic leaders and recognize outstanding research projects by early-career scientists that are finding ways to use algae to create a range of renewable fuels, fertilizers, plastics and other products. The students presented their ideas via posters which were featured in the Summit’s exhibit hall.

More than 120 posters were accepted this year, representing a wide variety of technologies and research projects. A panel of  judges evaluated the posters based on six key criteria: presentation, methodology, data analysis, poster integrity and the presentation of the poster by the presenter him or herself.

The Young Algae Research Awards are presented to winners for research conducted in two subject areas: biology and engineering. For outstanding research in algae biology, awards went to:

1st Place: Matt Jackson, Montana State University

2nd Place: Sarah Loftus, Duke University

3rd Place Todd Pedersen, Montana State University

For outstanding research in algae engineering, the awards went to:

1st Place: Peter Schnurr, University of Toronto

2nd Place: Lili Gevorkian, California Polytechnic University

3rd Place: Kimberly Pugel, California Polytechnic University

Congratulations to each of these young scientists! Their innovations are building the foundation for the technologies, products and companies of tomorrow.

 

What They Missed In The Martian: Algae is the Key to Colonizing Mars

Our attention is greatly piqued by a recent article in Gizmodo about cyanobacteria, the microbes that helped terraform the lifeless Earth into a vibrant biosphere. Today, the very same critters could be the key to colonizing Mars.

In science fiction—and in the recent movie “The Martian,” starring Matt Damon—we find humans harvesting fields of wheat under terraformed Martian skies and growing rows of potatoes inside climate-controlled Habs. But in reality, growing any plants on Mars is going to be a challenge, because the Martian soil lacks some key ingredients.

This is actually ALSO an issue on Earth, but we have a solution: Microbes. Cyanobacteria are among a diverse group of nitrogen-fixers, bugs that deploy specialized enzymes to pull N2 out of the air and convert it into ammonia. On Earth, nitrogen fixers live symbiotically within plant roots, feeding their hosts nutrients in exchange for sugar. and colleagues argue that we could likewise harness cyanobacteria to extract all the fertilizer we’ll need from the Martian atmosphere.

To read the full article, click here.

To learn about one ABO member that is harnessing the nitrogen-fixing abilities of algae for use as fertilizer, check out Acclergy’s TerraSync product.