ABO’s Year in Review: 2022

In 2022 the Algae Biomass Organization, just like the rest of the world, saw an evolution from the disruptions of the pandemic into a new era of adjustment and opportunity. It was inspiring to see our members keep the ball moving forward, and it was equally inspiring to be part of an organization committed to helping its members get through a global disruption and emerge in a position to keep up the pace of accomplishment.

Our organization’s achievements this past year include progress on policy, technology development, network building and commercialization:

• First, ABO’s policy achievements continue to provide unparalleled support for algae innovators. ABO’s contacts with Congress allowed for the continuation of invaluable R&D support. This funding is already being allocated to public/private partnerships, academic consortia, and other commercialization efforts. It includes:
  • $40 million for DOE’s Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) for algae technology and commercialization R&D, and
  • $8 million allocated to DOE’s Fossil Energy Office for algae R&D related to carbon capture and use.
  • Millions more are devoted from other agencies like U.S. Department of Agriculture the Department of Commerce, the. Department of Health and Human Services, the Food and Drug Administration, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the National Science Foundation.
    
    
• In 2022 we also brought together leaders for workshops and webinars to plan for algae’s role in everything from food & feed, to carbon credits.
  • For example, our algae in aquafeed workshop brought together more than 60 people from all over the world. They heard presentations from industry leaders like Corbion, Global Algae Innovations, UC Santa Cruz, MicroBio Engineering, the University of Connecticut, and Algae4All.
    
    
• ABO worked closely in 2022 with a broad coalition to make policy gains in the Inflation Reduction Act for algae-based fuels, especially sustainable aviation fuels. These fuels are an important pathway for algae commercialization, as the aviation industry is badly in need of decarbonization solutions, especially energy-dense fuels like those our industry can provide.
  
  
• In 2022 we continued the tradition of gathering our industry at the Algae Biomass Summit. Once again, the event was virtual, and saw investors, researchers and business leaders join to discuss the latest achievements in all aspects of our industry, and to make plans for the future.
  
  
• ABO also worked to provide new opportunities for a wider audience to engage with the algae and seaweed industries:
  • We opened an online auction that allowed the public to bid on a variety of algae-based and algae-inspired products.
  • We developed a new campaign called “Algae Everyday” that will be offering new avenues to inspire the use of algae and seaweed across multiple market sectors.
  • And we are in the process of opening an online store that will give ABO the ability to provide the public with more algae education, promotion, and other inspiration.
    
    
• Finally, ABO worked on several expanded membership benefits in 2022, and we have big plans for more in 2023.
  • We welcomed members in our new membership categories: Bronze for algae startups that are innovating new technology or products. And two new University level categories to meet the needs of the academic community that is so critical to advancing this industry’s technology and workforce development.
    
    
• These successes would not have been possible without the Algae Biomass Organization and its membership. All of us at ABO want to extend our thanks and congratulations to everyone that supported our efforts this year. We look forward to more success and cooperation in 2023.