Category: Blog

This month’s Biomass Magazine includes a column from ABO’s Executive Director Mary Rosenthal on the importance of pushing legislation that would allow renewable energy companies to organize as Master Limited Partnerships.

Mary writes that updating MLP regulations “is one policy goal that is achievable in today’s difficult political environment, and could open a flood of new financing for projects in biomass, biofuel, wind, solar and other clean technologies. ”

Read more about what’s wrong with today’s MLP regulations and which proposals to change them could have a lasting impact on the algae industry at Biomass Magazine.

 

Reduce. Reuse. Recycle. Why not apply this mantra to carbon dioxide emissions?

Several efforts are under way in Canada that will advance applications and technologies that divert carbon dioxide streams for useful purposes. Instead of a waste, why not treat carbon as commodity?

Carbon reuse applications could have a big impact in how we reduce greenhouse gas concentrations. Using algae to recycle CO₂ into fuels not only makes the use of existing fossil fuels more efficient, it keeps petroleum that would otherwise be used to fuel cars and trucks locked underground. This is sequestration at its finest: If you leave the carbon in the ground you don’t have to take it out and put it back in later.

A recent video posted by Algenol explains how Carbon Capture and Reuse can make a big impact on climate change:

The future of carbon reuse in the United States will largely depend on how quickly companies like Algenol can start using carbon dioxide from power plants that use fossil fuels, or other types of carbon-intensive manufacturing.

One way to accelerate that process is for the EPA to include carbon reuse in its upcoming regulations on power plant emissions. ABO is encouraging all of its members to contact the EPA and make sure that carbon reuse becomes an approved technology for new and old power plants.

Researchers at UC San Diego announced this week a breakthrough method for enhancing algae’s ability to produce oils without compromising the organism’s ability to grow. More oil production from algae means that more efficient biofuel production rates can be achieved.

Scripps graduate student Emily Trentacoste led the development of the new method, which is detailed in the latest edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 

“These results demonstrate that targeted metabolic manipulations can be used to increase accumulation of fuel-relevant molecules.… with no negative effects on growth,” said Trentacoste. “We have shown that engineering this pathway is a unique and practical approach for increasing lipid yields.”

Ms. Trantacoste was also a speaker at the Algae Biomass Summit in Orlando this year. Her presentations on lipid accumulation and algae’s place in agriculture are available for ABO members on the Member Resources page.

 

The Algae Biomass Organization (ABO) released a statement today expressing disappointment with the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed change to the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) that would, for the first time, reduce the levels of domestically produced, advanced biofuels that are required to be blended into America’s fuel supply.

The EPA’s proposed requirement for the year 2014 calls for significantly less renewable fuel than the RFS originally intended and also less than what the advanced biofuels industry has indicated it will produce. The proposal would require approximately 13 billion gallons of conventional ethanol and 2.2 billions gallons of advanced biofuels to be blended with petroleum-based gasoline next year. Those figures are significantly less than the 2013 requirements for 13.8 billion gallons of conventional ethanol and 2.75 billion gallons of advanced biofuels.

“The way to move the country forward is not to roll back requirements and goals for renewable fuels. There’s no doubt that America’s biofuels industry has been moving the country forward – creating jobs in rural communities, providing choice at the pump and reducing our dangerous dependence on imported oil,” said Mary Rosenthal, Executive Director of the Algae Biomass Organization. “The EPA’s decision to require fewer gallons of renewable fuels than last year is a clear step back and sends a chilling signal to investors who are looking to finance the future of the American biofuel industry, putting our economic and environmental security at risk.”

The ABO and its members plan to provide comments on the rule to the EPA during the two-month period that precedes a final decision on the 2014 blend requirements.

 

In cloudy Seattle you might not expect to find many algae companies, but the city’s thriving biotechnology research sector is making it the perfect place for one company to develop stronger, more productive algae that can be used by algae cultivators around the world.

Last week Matrix Genetics opened new offices and laboratory facilities in the South Lake Union neighborhood of Seattle, just a few blocks from downtown. The company offered a tour that ABO is officially welcoming into its 2013 Summer of Algae campaign, even though it came just as the leaves were beginning to fall:

Matrix studies algae to bring out characteristics that will make the organisms even more useful for producing renewable fuels, feeds, fertilizers and more. These improvements include higher oil yields, resistance to pathogens and predators, tolerance to a range of environmental conditions and more efficient use of light in photosynthesis. All of these can help algae cultivators grow algae more efficiently, which is exactly the kind of improvement that will help the algae industry succeed.

The new labs are part of an ongoing expansion at Matrix, including several new staff positions. During the tour we were struck by the commitment of the research team not only to the science of algae, but also to its application to global challenges in energy, food and medicine. That commitment goes all the way to the top: Margaret McCormick, CEO at Matrix is currently serving as Chairman of ABO’s Board of Directors.