Members of the Algae Biomass Organization are at the forefront of advanced technology development, and many of them are also small businesses with enormous potential to create new jobs and help grow the economy. Toward that goal, the Department of Energy (DOE) announced this month up to $22 million in grants for several small business innovators to advance the next phase of their research.
The grants come from DOE’s Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program, and ABO member companies were among the recipients:
Algenesis Materials, based in Cardiff, CA, was awarded one grant to develop biodegradable polymers made from algae to produce athletic shoes and flip flops, and then identify methods that can control the biodegradation of the shoes for maximum function.
Global Algae Innovations, Inc., based in San Diego, CA and creator of the industry-leading Zobi harvesting system was awarded two grants. One will be used to develop an ultra-low-cost plastic pond liner that could have enormous impacts for the commercial algae industry, and another for technologies that can control temperature throughout the year in open ponds for algae production.
MicroBio Engineering, based in San Luis Obispo, CA will use their award to build and demonstrate a fully automated laboratory microalgae cultivation system with over a dozen individual reactors. The advances will help increase production and reduce costs for algae that can be used for biofuels, animal feeds, and other bioproducts.
These Phase I grants provide up to $200,000 each, and awardees will be eligible to apply for Phase II grants of up to $1 million next year.
Congratulations to these ABO members! Want to learn more about these projects? Leaders from these companies will be at the 2019 Algae Biomass Summit in Orlando, September 16-19.
You can learn more about these DOE grants and other awardees at the Green Chemicals Blog.
Ready to learn how you can prepare to take advantage of federal funding opportunities? Read these guidelines to get started.