Category: Blog

The Department of Energy (DOE) has announced a new $15 million funding opportunity to develop algae biofuel feedstocks that can replace petroleum feedstocks in downstream refining.

Specifically, the DOE is looking for projects that can produce 3,700 thousand gallons of unrefined algae-based biofuel per acre per year by 2020. Unrefined biofuels, or intermediates, should be ready to sell to refiners who should be able to create ethanol, renewable diesel and jet fuel.

This and other opportunities have been made possible because the Algae Biomass Organization and its members were able to work closely with Congress to secure $30 million in dedicated algae funding at the DOE Bioenergy Technologies Office for 2016. We are now seeing the results of that effort and strongly encourage ABO members to consider an application.

In this funding opportunity, applicants must address one comprehensive topic area with three main priority areas:

1. Strain/productivity improvements.
2. Improvements in pre-processing technologies (harvesting, dewatering, and extraction and/or equivalent processes).
3. Integration of cultivation with pre-processing technologies.

ABO members deserve thanks for supporting the efforts that make opportunities like this possible!

You can learn more about this funding opportunity and application requirements here.

 

 

It’s widely recognized the world is going to have a lot of extra mouths to feed in the coming decades, especially in the developing world, where demand is rising for nutritious and protein-rich food.

To meet this impending swell in demand, innovators are searching for farming technologies that will require the least input and the least arable land. As always, traditional crops will need to produce higher yields than they do today, but they cannot meet this challenge alone.

In the most recent issue of Biomass Magazine ABO’s executive director Matt Carr writes about the global food challenge and how new research can help us provide the food we need without a crippling ecological impact.

“the world doesn’t just need more food—we need better food” –Matt Carr

Algae, for example, can become a key component of food production. Algae can be cultivated with non-potable water, little to no agricultural land, and harvested year round. They can be a source of food for human as well as animals, which means they can help reduce the impact of feeding more and more livestock and fish as global populations grow.

To learn more about how algae can be the missing link in the global food shortage, check out Expanding Food Production and Biomass Benefits in Biomass Magazine.

Yet another year seems to have sped by, bringing us the holiday season, and with it innumerable family gatherings, parties with co-workers, and cheerful conversation. We here at ABO have pulled together a few helpful talking points on algae to ensure that you are the life of the party wherever your holiday travels take you:

Are the kids asking what makes Santa’s sleigh so fast? He could be using algae biofuels!

Algae can be used to make all the fuels we need: ethanol, diesel, gasoline, and jet fuel. And since they consume carbon dioxide as they grow, algae-based biofuels can help cut down on the greenhouse gases that are warming the Earth and threatening the ice at the North Pole.

Santa can also feed his reindeer with super-sustainable feeds from algae.

Algae-based feeds are perfect for reindeer, who live far from the farmland needed to supply hay and other forage. Not only would the high protein content and Omega-3 oils help fuel Rudolph and his team all night long, but algae-based feeds are also more sustainable than conventional feeds:

• They have less than 10% the carbon footprint of conventional feeds
• They use less than 10% of the land requirements of traditional feeds
• They have less than 20% the water impact of traditional feeds

Studies have already shown that feeds based on algae can meet and exceed the performance of traditional feed formulations.

That sounds pretty good, you say. Can I eat algae too?

Algae-based foods for humans are already becoming available in the supermarket, so don’t be surprised if some of your holiday meal includes one of the-the most sustainable ingredients known. Solazyme recently introduced an algae-derived cooking oil with a mild flavor profile, high cooking temperature and an insanely high ratio of monounsaturated fats (those are the hearty-healthy kind most of us need to eat more of).

How does Aunt Debbie manage to look so young?

She may be using algae-based nutraceuticals and personal care products. Algae’s Omega-3 and antioxidant content offer major benefits including anti-ageing and hydration properties and have already made their mark in the premium cosmetics sector in the U.S. She could also be taking an algae-based Omega-3 supplement, one of the most mature markets for algae, to improve her cardiovascular health.

If the holiday libations have you moving a bit slower in the morning you can always try the world’s best hangover cure: algae!

We came across this recent claim that Chlorella, a freshwater algae, may be one of the world’s best hangover cures for its ability to detoxify the liver and provide much-needed vitamins and minerals. You may also want to try Spirulina, which can often be found in popular fruit smoothies and as a stand-alone supplement. Or you may want to mix your algae into your cocktail–check out the Green Machine & Vodka drink.

So make a toast to algae, the perfect solution to liven up holiday chatter, to build a stronger economy and to create a more sustainable planet.

Have a great holiday season!

 

Matt Carr

Executive Director

Algae Biomass Organization

ABO member Qualitas Health was recently featured in the Fort Stockton Pioneer for their innovative algae farm near Imperial, Texas.

Instead of taking crude oil out of the ground this facility is using a brackish underground aquifer to grow algae that’s harvested for its nutritious Omega-3 oil components.

According to the Pioneer:

Qualitas Health algae farm was established in Imperial because of its abundance of available land, sunlight and brackish water, all of which are needed for an inland marine algae farm. It is the largest facility of its type in the world. 

Read the full profile in the Fort Stockton Pioneer.

ABO member and University of Delaware associate scientist Dr. Jennifer Stewart is working to create sustainable algae-based biofuels that could reduce carbon dioxide and other harmful emissions in the atmosphere. Her recent work on carbon capture and utilization with algae is attracting some attention.