Category: Blog

Yesterday the Energy Department today announced nearly $18 million in four innovative pilot-scale biorefineries in California, Iowa, and Washington that will test renewable biofuels as a domestic alternative to power our cars, trucks, and planes that meet military specifications for jet fuel and shipboard diesel. Among the recipients is ABO member Bioprocess Algae, which will use the award to further develop their Grower Harvester technology platform, co-located with the Green Plains Renewable Energy ethanol plant in Shenandoah, Iowa.

A statement from BioProcess Algae describes the project more:

“We believe our Grower Harvester platform will be vital in the development of this project with the DOE,” said Tim Burns, President and CEO of BioProcess Algae. “For this project, we will integrate low-cost autotrophic algal production, accelerated lipid production, and lipid conversion in an effort to develop a cost-effective advanced biofuel for military needs. This development is consistent with our current plans to build the next phase of Grower Harvester reactors in Shenandoah.”

ABO also congratulated BioProcess Algae for their award, and noted that the federal government has played a role in advancing technologies that formed the basis for new industries for some time:

“We’re thrilled BioProcess Algae has been selected as one of four pilot biorefineries that will receive support to accelerate the availability of advanced, renewable biofuels,” said Mary Rosenthal, executive director of ABO. “The United States has a long history of supporting new energy technologies, and the Department of Energy’s selection is a testament to BioProcess Algae’s impressive progress and the potential for algae to provide America with renewable, domestic biofuels that don’t compete with food or fresh water.”

Congratulations to BioProcess Algae!

 

We’ve posted a lot of news about the efforts to use algae for producing renewable fuels, fertilizers and even cosmetics. But the  science that is making these possibilities a reality may also have a big impact on medicine.

We have already seen how algae can be coaxed into producing anti-cancer drugs. Today, research from UC San Diego published in Applied and Environmental Microbiology describes how algae might also be used to fight malaria and other diseases.

The paper describes how mice fed algae engineered to produce a special protein developed antibodies to a malarial parasite protein and to a toxin produced by the cholera bacteria.

“Many bacterial and viral infections are caused by eating tainted food or water,” says Stephen Mayfield, a professor of biology at UC San Diego who headed the study. “So what this study shows is that you can get a really good immune response from a recombinant protein in algae that you feed to a mammal. In this case, it happens to be a mouse, but presumably it would also work in a human. That’s really encouraging for the potential for algae-based vaccines in the future.”

Will we be eating algae to vaccinate against disease?

For more information about this research check out the UCSD News Center.

Super-light body armor? Add it to the list of things algae can make.

Over at Gizmodo Eric Limer describes recent research reported at the National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society about incredibly light, and strong, nanocellulose materials that are made from  algae. Eric writes:

“Initially, the production of nanocellulose involved huge breeding tanks of bacteria, which rather annoyingly required things like food. But recent advancements have helped groom a new workhorse: blue-green algae, which unlike normal bacteria, can make its own food from the sun, and devour greenhouse gases in the process. You could hardly ask for more.”

Read more about this research at Gizmodo.

Take a look at our new map that shows algae production facilities and research projects stretching from coast to coast. It’s a great illustration of the nationwide opportunity for algae to supply the U.S. with renewable fuels, feeds, fertilizers, chemicals and other products.

For a larger view of the map go the main Algae Industry Map page.

It truly is great to see so much going on. The algae industry map shows the locations of algae-related companies, research institutions, national laboratories, demonstration and commercial projects and other efforts undertaken by ABO members and non-members alike. We plan to continually update the map as new companies, projects and research are unveiled.

Keep an eye on the the industry as it grows!

 

Check out this coming opportunity to join world-renowned academic scientists, leaders from industry, and state and national policy makers to discuss how biotechnology can address global food and fuel challenges.

Registration is now open for the Food and Fuel for the 21sth Century Symposium April 19-20, 2013. The event will be at the  Hojel Auditorium on the UC San Diego campus in La Jolla, CA.

Building off last year’s symposium launching Food and Fuel for the 21st Century, this year’s event will highlight additional opportunities beyond biofuels for plant and algae biotechnologies to address resource challenges. The symposium will cover the potential of using genetics, genomics, and molecular and synthetic biology to enable increased productivity of photosynthetic organisms and to facilitate the transfer and expansion of these technologies to the commercial sector.

Space is limited so register now!

For more information, please visit  http://algae.ucsd.edu/symposium_2013.html