Category: Blog

Can we put carbon emissions to good use? This week the Algae Biomass Organization’s webinar series continues with a focus on this question.

Please join us on July 25, 2013 at 2pm ET (11am PT)   

As the Administration begins new efforts to control greenhouse gases innovative technologies are opening the possibility for carbon emissions to become a business opportunity. Several ABO member companies are closing in on the commercial production of biofuels, feeds, fertilizers and other products derived from algae. Algae are voracious consumers of CO2, and making products from algae can beneficially reuse carbon emission from a variety of sources.

In this webinar leaders from the algae industry, major energy companies, and climate policy experts will discuss how algae can transform carbon emissions into a valuable feedstock that will help our climate and improve the bottom line.

This will be an informative event for anyone that needs to understand how algae are becoming a sustainable, renewable resource that contributes to our energy and economic security.

Click here to register.

Presenters:

• Mike Evans, Partner at K&L Gates
• Doug Durst, Strategic Planning Manager at Duke Energy
• Tim Burns, President and CEO of BioProcess Algae

Moderator:

• Mary Rosenthal, Executive Director of the Algae Biomass Organization

Q&A Session:

Presentations will be followed by a Q&A session moderated by Mary Rosenthal.

Time:

July 25, 2013

11:00 am -12:00 pm Pacific
12:00 pm – 1:00 pm Mountain
1:00 pm – 2:00 pm Central
2:00 pm – 3:00 pm Eastern

There are a limited number of spots available so sign up today!

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

Another success today for students that are looking to algae for it’s ability to provide sustainable fuels, fertilizers, and other products comes from Rocky Run Middle School in Chantilly, Virginia.

Three seventh graders from that school have just won the national championship in the U.S. Army’s 11th annual eCybermission competition. Divya Mereddy, Rachana Subbanna and Sneha Thandra, operating under the name Team STEM Ninjas, successfully cultivated an algae crop and processed algal oil into fuel.

ConnectionNewspapers.com has the full details. Congratulations to this team of the next algae generation!

Arizona-based Algae Biomass Organization member Heliae announced this week that they have successfully raised $28.4 million from new and existing investors.

The funding will support the day-to-day operation and expansion of Heliae’s first commercial facility in Gilbert, AZ, opening this September.  Heliae plans to use the facility to supply high value personal care and nutraceutical products for already existing customers.

From the Phoenix Business Journal:

“With our first commercial plant coming on line and this latest round of funding, the company is on track to deliver high-quality, algae-based products to the therapeutic, nutraceutical, agroscience and personal care industries,” said Frank Mars, co-founder and chairman of the board. “Heliae is delivering against our mission to advance the future of algae.”

The facility with be built out in two phases.  The first will be tailored towards nutraceuticals from a strain of algae which requires extensive light intake.  The second phase will utilize very low light conditions and will focus on personal care products, showcasing the diversity and flexibility of Heliae’s Volaris production platform.

From Biofuels Digest:

Heliae’s flexible Volaris platform combines the best of existing algae production models, utilizing both sunlight and low-cost carbon feedstocks to optimize output. Volaris is a mixotrophic algae production platform, a hybrid of known phototrophic and heterotrophic models, which affords decreased capital costs, reduced contamination and increased productivity and product optionality.

The future looks bright for this ABO member and we expect we’ll have more good news to report as things continue to develop.

See Heliae’s Press Release here.

Recently, The BBC had a special on biofuels’; their history and where the industry stands today. The segment starts by discussing the innitial promise of certain crops until it was realized that many competed with food supplies for land, water and other resources. The 30 minute piece later goes on to highlight three areas for the future of biofuels: waste materials, algae, and bacteria.

The BBC focuses on a Cambridge University algae lab, California algae fuel producer Solazyme and two professors at Manchester and Exeter Universities experimenting with diesel fuel from bacteria. The algae portions do an excellent job of showcasing current commercialization potential and today’s major research areas.

We are very excited to see the BBC highlighting such an important topic and hope to see more about algae in the future!

Listen here for the whole special.

A small resort town on Spain’s Atlantic coast is now home to the world’s first sewage-to-algae fuel facility.  This European Union backed demonstration project was built to showcase the potential for algae to convert wastewater into vehicle grade fuel.

The €12 million, 10 hectare facility is called All-Gas, a nod to the Spanish word algas, which means seaweed, and is expected to be able to produce around 3,000 kg of dry algae per day.

While many have converted waste to energy, All-Gas project leader Frank Rogalla says that “Nobody has done the transformation from wastewater to biofuel.”

The five-year project is coordinated by the global water management giant Aqualia, which has also had contact with Brazil, the United Arab Emirates and a French company about the possibility of building and operating similar water treatment plants.

All-Gas says its sewage plant is more than 2 million euros less expensive to set up and run than a conventional sewage plant.

Based on the amount of wastewater disposed of in Spain, Rogalla believes there is a major opportunity. He says: “40 million people, roughly the population of Spain, would be able to power 200,000 vehicles from just flushing their toilet!”

Not only does the process utilize an otherwise wasted resource but the process actually cleans the water, reducing the strain on wastewater treatment facilities. This process was discussed on ABO’s recent webinar on the potential for salt and wastewater resources to be used for growing algae.

The All-Gas demonstration project is yet another example of the variety of resources and end products that can be produced sustainably from algae.