Category: Blog

This week marks a new era in international algae cooperation: the US-based Algae Biomass Organization and the European Algae Biomass Association have agreed to a partnership that extends the member benefits of each organization.

The two organizations have also agreed to collaborate to further the development of algae biomass technologies in the U.S., Europe and globally through events, conferences and policy advocacy.

ABO Executive Director Matt Carr and EABA President Vítor Verdelho signed the agreement this week at the EABA Conference 2014 in Florence, Italy.

Among the expanded benefits the agreement brings to ABO members:

• Shared calendars of events, meeting and conferences for both organizations.
• ABO members can now register for EABA events, conferences and meetings at the member-only rates. The same privileges apply to EABA members that wish to attend ABO events.

More algae companies in the United States are cementing partnerships with companies and governments abroad to build new commercial facilities, procure equipment or off-take agreements for algae biomass and related products.

Cooperation between ABO and EABA will likely accelerate efforts like these, and bring more algae-derived goods and services to the global markets.

This partnership is also another great reason to become an ABO member!

 

The Algae Biomass Organization formally submitted comments to the Environmental Protection Agency, asking it to explicitly recognize the use of carbon capture and utilization (CCU) technologies as an approved emissions reduction strategy under the agency’s new power plant regulations. ABO’s comments describe how encouraging the development of innovative technologies that use greenhouse gases to make valuable products can simultaneously reduce emissions and spur economic development.

Read ABO’s press announcement here.

A PDF of ABO’s full comments can be downloaded at:
https://algaebiomass.org/abo-comments/

ABO Executive Director Matt Carr is at the European Algae Biomass Association Conference 2014 in Florence, Italy this week, and during his presentation on Monday he spent some time highlighting policy priorities that can advance the industry in the United States.

Regulations that support carbon dioxide utilization, tax credits for advanced biofuels, and agricultural policies that offer algae farmers the same treatment as those growing other crops can all pave the way for an industry that can provide countless products with minimal impacts on land or freshwater use.

Matt also spent some time on new trend in the algae industry: the growing number of U.S.-based technology developers that are inking agreements with international partners.

A few of the partnership Matt cited:

• An off-take agreement between Cellana and Neste Oil, the world’s leading supplier of renewable diesel.
• A partnership between Sapphire Energy and China’s Sinopec to validate and deploy algae cultivation technology in that country.
• An agreement between Heliae and Sincere Corp to build a commercial facility in Japan.
• Solazyme’s manufacturing plant online in partnership with Brazil’s Bunge.

No doubt these partnerships offer benefits to both parties. Technology developers get access to new markets or investments, and international partners can bring the latest advances to their own shores.

Check out Matt’s full slide deck here:

This week U.S. Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Brian Schatz (D-HI) introduced legislation proposing an economy-wide carbon fee. Many are skeptical about the fate of any climate legislation in the next Congress, but this latest proposal includes a very significant policy milestone: The bill provides a refund of the carbon fee to any facility that implements carbon capture and utilization.

More leaders are recognizing that accelerating carbon utilization technologies like algae cultivation may become an indispensable tool in the fight against climate change. It also doesn’t hurt to promote new and more sustainable ways of making the stuff we need.

Check out the statement from ABO applauding the leadership of Senators Whitehouse and Schatz.

Biomass Magazine has the story.

E&E has more coverage (subscription required)

 

Overfishing, pollution and climate change are the leading factors associated with the world’s depleting fish population.

As natural fish populations dwindle, we are turning to other practices, such as aquaculture, to meet increasing human demand.

In fact, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, foresees that “per-capita fish consumption of farmed fish will increase by 4.4 percent in 2014 from a year ago to an annual 10.3kg”, while wild fish is “predicted to fall 1.5 percent to 9.7 kg.”

This marks the first time in history that farmed fish consumption will exceed consumption of wild fish!

According to the recent Financial Times story by Emiko Terazono, fishmeal “has surged to a record $2,400 a tonne, as rising sea temperatures have led to a sharp drop in anchovy caught in Peru, the world’s largest exporter.”

With the price of fishmeal – the crucial feed for shrimp, prawns and salmon – at an all-time high, the pressure to find substitutes is increasing substantially.

We believe that algae could be the best fishmeal alternative. Algae come with a number of advantages:

• high concentrations of proteins and amino acids,
• extremely predictable yields,
• customized product formulations,
• reduced toxins in raw DHA and EPA feedstocks,
• year round cultivation,
• short time period needed to harvest after a pond of algae or bioreactor has been inoculated.

In addition to the benefits above, perhaps algae’s greatest advantage is the fact that it grows in salt or wastewater, consumes CO2 as it grows and does not compete for land with traditional agricultural or aquatic sources. .

“The sustainability profile of algae is off the charts when compared to fish-based sources,” said Martin Sabarsky, CEO of Cellana, a developer of algae-based products such as Omega-3 EPA and DHA oils, animal feed and biofuels.

Similar to aquaculture feeds, Omega-3 supplements for humans are traditionally harvested from the sea. As Omega-3 demand grows worldwide it is expected that wild fish stocks won’t be able to keep up. The development of a robust algae-based Omega-3 industry would relieve some of the pressure on aquatic sources, enabling those species to rebound while also lowering prices, creating a real win-win for marine life, industry and consumers.