Category: Blog

On March 24, 2014, the Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Ranking Member Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) received a letter from a group of biofuel trade organizations, including ABO, encouraging the extension of critical advanced biofuel tax incentives — the Second Generation Biofuel Producer Tax Credit, the Special Depreciation Allowance for Second Generation Biofuel Plant Property, the Biodiesel and Renewable Diesel Fuels Credit, and the Alternative Fuel and Alternative Fuel Mixture Excise Tax Credit.

The trade groups signing the letter included the Advanced Ethanol Council, Advanced Biofuels Association, Algae Biomass Organization, Biotechnology Industry Organization, Growth Energy, National Biodiesel Board, and Renewable Fuels Association.

The advanced biofuels industry is currently at a critical stage of development. However, when the advanced biofuels tax credits expired on December 31, 2013, developers became stuck in a limbo as debates in Congress over the extension of the above provisions continues.

“Advanced biofuel tax credits have allowed the biofuels industry to make great strides in reducing the cost of production and developing first-of-kind technologies to deploy the most innovative fuel in the world,” the letter stated.

The Algae Biomass Organization understands how important tax credits are for algae biofuel industry growth. Back in December 2013, ABO leaders worked with Congressmen Scott Peters (D-CA), the co-chair of the Congressional Algae Caucus, on the introduction of HR 3758, legislation that would extend the Second Generation Biofuel Producer tax credit and the Special Depreciation Allowance for Second Generation Biofuel Plant Property.

It’s critical that Congress extend the legislation that puts renewable fuels on a level playing field with the incumbent fossil fuel industry. Ours is an industry that is creating jobs, providing energy security, and developing truly sustainable sources of food, feed and fuel.

If you are a student and want to attend the 8^th Annual Algae Biomass Summit from September 29^th through October 2^nd in sunny San Diego, CA – check out the travel grants being offered by The Algae Foundation!

The 2014 Algae Biomass Summit is the world’s largest gathering of algae industry thought leaders and the ideal place for students to learn and network with the best.

Winners of the Algae Foundation Student Travel Grant Award will receive $500 towards attending the 2014 Algae Biomass Summit.

To be eligible for consideration, students must:

• Be an ABO Member;
• Be an undergraduate, graduate student or pre-doctoral student or
• Be a PhD with a post-doctoral appointment and is currently involved in a full time academic research program for no longer than 2 years.
• Submit an abstract to present a poster or oral presentation at ABS 2014 and be the presenting author of the abstract. First priority deadline for abstracts is April 2, 2014.
• Provide a suggested budget to attend the Summit
• Provide a current letter of recommendation for ABS 2014

The Algae Foundation will choose winners based on:

• The relevance and scientific quality of the submitted abstract
• The student has not received a similar travel grant award in the last two years
• Only one travel grant per laboratory

Send application materials to:

Barb Scheevel

Administrative Coordinator

Algae Foundation

125 St. Paul Street, P.O. Box 369

Preston, MN 55965

Email: bscheevel@algaebiomass.org

The deadline to apply for The Algae Foundation Student Travel Grant is April 16, 2014!

 

 

The University of California, San Diego and Scripps Institution of Oceanography have been ranked by the Department of Energy as number one for their algae research program. In this news broadcast from CBS8 you can see Dr. Greg Mitchell, research biologist at Scripps and ABO board member, describe the work being done in San Diego and the potential of the algae industry:

San Diego, California News Station – KFMB Channel 8 – cbs8.com

UCSD and Scripps are part of an algae research consortium called the California Center for Algae Biotechnology, which is based along with other leading algae businesses and laboratories, in San Diego.

The focus of so much algae activity in San Diego will make the 2014 Algae Biomass Summit a great chance to check on the progress of research and commercialization projects in the region, and all over the world.  The Summit will be held September 29-October 2, 2014 at the San Diego Marriot Marquis & Marina, and ABO is currently accepting abstracts for speaking and poster proposals. Be sure to submit your abstracts before the April 2^nd priority deadline!

To attend the Summit be sure to register before the early bird rate expires!

 

 

 

Food & Fuel for the 21^st Century is holding its annual symposium– Pushing the Genetic Boundaries of Photosynthetic Biomanufacturing!

March 14-15, 2014 | Atkinson Auditorium, UC San Diego| La Jolla, California

This event will feature:

• An exploration of the latest genetic research of photosynthetic organisms for the production of biomass, biofuel, and bio-products.
• A wrap-up of Cal-CAB’s Consortium for Algal Biofuels Commercialization (CAB-Comm) grant.
• Keynote talks from Hamilton Smith of the J. Craig Venter Institute and Roger Beachy from the World Food Center at UC Davis.

Don’t miss out on this great opportunity. Register today!

 

 

 

NREL’s Simulated Algal Growth Environment reactor is a one-of-a-kind bioreactor living up to its name.

NREL Senior Scientist Lieve Laurens explains, “We can model how a particular strain would grow in different locations around the United States, and how this impacts the oil productivity,” as well as the general biochemical composition of the biomass.

This enhanced algae growth can lead to the production of diesel, butanol, ethanol, and other fuels useful to industry- a positive outlook for the future of the algae industry.

Dr. Laurens is also chair of ABO’s Technical Standards Committee, which recently released Algae Industry Measurements, Version 6, and ABO publication that sets up a common language to evaluate algae operations regardless of the technological approach they take.