Category: Press

WASHINGTON, DC (June 5, 2018) The Algae Biomass Organization (ABO), the trade association for the algae industry, today announced the preliminary agenda for the 12^th Annual Algae Biomass Summit, being held in The Woodlands, Texas, October 14-17, 2018. The sessions unveiled on the agenda promise a wide range of discussions about the latest advances in algae commercialization and research and the growing impact they are having on food and nutrition markets, agriculture, carbon and water management, energy and more. Registration and agenda details can be viewed at: http://algaebiomasssummit.org.

The combination of commercial and research activity, as well as a favorable climate and resource base, make Texas the perfect setting for the world’s largest algae conference. Texas is where a number of leading companies such as iWi®, ExxonMobil, and AlgEternal Technologies are harnessing algae to develop a new generation of sustainable and versatile products for nutrition, animal feed, biofuels and other markets. The state is also home to leading research institutions, such as Texas A&M and the University of Texas, that are developing the cutting-edge technologies that will make it possible for algae to become a new crop and mainstay of American agriculture.

 “We’re looking forward to bringing algae industry leaders from all over the world to Texas, where some of the most successful approaches to deploying algae cultivation at commercial scales are being demonstrated,” said Matt Carr, executive director of the Algae Biomass Organization. “The Summit’s agenda is more diverse than ever, covering just about any market and any application for a new generation of algae farmers, scientists and entrepreneurs that are building value and addressing some of the world’s greatest challenges.”

In addition to plenary sessions on the most pressing topics facing the industry, the conference will feature dozens of presentations in breakout sessions organized into four tracks:

• Biology: Featuring the latest research discoveries and innovations about how algae grow, and how they can be harnessed to address global challenges or create new products.
• Commercialization, Finance & Policy: Updates from entrepreneurs and Fortune 500 companies that are deploying algae into the market, as well as investment opportunities and bipartisan policy support for algae in Congress and state legislatures.
• Engineering & Analysis: Addressing the latest techniques for cultivating and processing algae at commercial scales.
• Products & Markets: A new Summit track focusing on the latest products that are made possible with algae, and how they can upend traditional options.

The Summit’s exhibit hall will offer opportunities to see algae technologies up close, and also includes a Product Showcase with examples of the hundreds of algae-based products already on the market. More than 100 posters will be on display showcasing groundbreaking new technologies, research and commercial breakthroughs.

The 2018 Summit comes as ABO member companies have accelerated the pace of product commercialization in the past year, introducing new and more sustainable aquaculture feeds, nutritional supplements, algae-derived plastics and foams, food ingredients, and more. The new value these products are creating is complemented by an unparalleled sustainability profile for algae farming. Algae can be grown using carbon dioxide from energy production, previously unusable brackish water or wastewater from treatment plants, and marginal lands that aren’t suitable for most traditional crops.

More information about the Summit can be found at www.algaebiomasssummit.org.

About the Algae Biomass Organization

The Algae Biomass Organization (ABO) is a 501 c(6) non-profit whose mission is to promote the development of viable commercial markets for renewable and sustainable commodities derived from algae. Its membership is comprised of people, companies, and organizations across the value chain. More information about ABO, including its leadership, membership, costs, benefits, and members and their affiliations, is available at the website: www.algaebiomass.org.

WASHINGTON, DC (May 24, 2018) The Algae Biomass Organization (ABO), the trade association for the algae industry, today announced AstaReal, Inc., Gross-Wen Technologies, the Orlando Utilities Commission, and SUEZ Water Technologies & Solutions as its newest Silver-level members. The four leaders in algae technology and product innovation join the growing ranks of companies and organizations that are working with ABO to develop algae into a sustainable source of countless products and services.

“We are seeing a greater diversity of applications for algae cultivation than ever before,” said Matt Carr, executive director of the Algae Biomass Organization. “We look forward to working with these four companies to build even bigger markets for the products and services that can be made more efficient, more sustainable and more effective with advanced algae technologies.”

AstaReal Inc, part of a world-wide AstaReal group located in Seattle, Washington is one of the leading producers of natural astaxanthin, a biomolecule critical to human and animal health. AstaReal is regarded as a pioneer in algae cultivation and in the early 1990’s became the first company in the world to commercially produce natural astaxanthin from microalgae. The company has invested heavily in clinical science and operates microalgae production facilities around the world including in the United States and Europe.

Iowa based Gross-Wen Technologies was founded in 2013 by Dr. Martin Gross and Dr. Zhiyou Wen to solve one of the world’s largest problems: water quality. Based on a technology developed at Iowa State University, the Gross-Wen approach harnesses a proprietary revolving algal biofilm system to cost-effectively recover nitrogen and phosphorus from wastewater. The carbon-negative process also produces algae biomass which can be sold as a slow releases fertilizer.

The Orlando Utilities Commission (OUC) is a municipal utility that provides water and electric services to the City of Orlando, Florida and parts of the surrounding area. In partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy, MicroBio Engineering, Inc., and other ABO members, OUC is working to demonstrate how algae cultivation can be used to capture carbon emissions from coal power production at its Stanton Energy Center.

About the Algae Biomass Organization

The Algae Biomass Organization (ABO) is a 501 c(6) non-profit whose mission is to promote the development of viable commercial markets for renewable and sustainable commodities derived from algae. Its membership is comprised of people, companies, and organizations across the value chain. More information about ABO, including its leadership, membership, costs, benefits, and members and their affiliations, is available at the website: www.algaebiomass.org.

WASHINGTON, DC (March 23, 2018) The Algae Biomass Organization (ABO), the trade association for the algae industry, today applauded the introduction of the Algae Agriculture Act of 2018 (H.R. 5373), a bill that would give algae cultivators and harvesters many of the same advantages as other traditional crops in United States agricultural policy. The bill was introduced by Congressman Scott Peters (CA-52) and sponsored by a diverse, bipartisan group of Congressmen: Andy Biggs (R-AZ-5), Derek Kilmer (D-WA-6) and Darin LaHood (R-IL-18).

“This legislation will help bring American agriculture into the future by welcoming the production of a new and incredibly useful crop that can sustainably provide food for millions of people, and even new chemicals, plastics, fuels and more.” said Matt Carr, executive director of the Algae Biomass Organization. “We are grateful for the dedication of the bill’s sponsors and their efforts to make the United States a leader in this new and exciting industry.”

The bill comes as algae is being increasingly recognized as a new agricultural crop with the potential to revolutionize food production, energy and how the nation approaches global sustainability challenges. A number of companies have recently announced new algae-based food ingredients for everything from energy drinks, nutritional supplements, cooking oil and even mayonnaise, to animal and aquaculture feeds that can simultaneously address growing crises in protein production, land use and water shortages. 

“Algae offers a transformative increase in agricultural productivity that will rejuvenate rural economies and create massive numbers of high quality rural jobs in the U.S.,” said David Hazlebeck, Chief Executive Officer of Global Algae Innovations and Chair of ABO’s board of directors. “Algae technologies are developing rapidly around the world, and this kind of support will help the U.S become the leader in growing algae as a new, healthy and sustainable source of protein and other products.”

The bill is expected to support the development of algae as a crop as well as a tool for the entire agriculture industry that can use algae-based technologies and products to improve their own operations.

“Algae can become a natural pathway to improve soil health on farms, manage water resources, nutrient run-off, and utilize carbon in a way that earns revenue and reduces climate change impacts,” said Mark Allen, Vice President of Integrated Carbon Solutions at Accelergy Corporation and Vice Chair of ABO’s board of directors. “This bill is an important step toward making algae farming and other algae technologies an important part of American agriculture.”

The Algae Agriculture Act of 2018 establishes a number of provisions to promote the expansion of algae farming in communities across the United States:

New support for algae research and development in agriculture: The bill helps level the playing field for algae with respect to other crops by updating the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture to include algae and its applications in agriculture, as well as the Foundation for Food and Agriculture, a nonprofit research institute that studies the economic and environmental resilience of our food supply. The bill also authorizes studies on algae cultivation’s potential for ecosystem support, nutrient management and soil heath, rural manufacturing and energy, and other ways to deploy algae as an agricultural solution.

Support for carbon utilization projects in rural communities: Under the new legislation, rural electric cooperatives would have explicit eligibility for Carbon Capture and Use (CUU) projects that take advantage of algae’s unique ability to generate revenue while also absorbing massive quantities of carbon dioxide. This support comes on the heels of language in the recent budget agreement that provides a new $35 per ton tax incentive for carbon captured and recycled from power plants or industrial facilities using algae or other biologically-based systems.

Crop disaster assistance for algae cultivation: Algae farmers would also be eligible for a USDA benefit many crops have had for decades: financial assistance when low yields, loss of inventory, or prevented planting occur due to natural disasters.

About the Algae Biomass Organization

The Algae Biomass Organization (ABO) is a 501 c(6) non-profit whose mission is to promote the development of viable commercial markets for renewable and sustainable commodities derived from algae. Its membership is comprised of people, companies, and organizations across the value chain. More information about ABO, including its leadership, membership, costs, benefits, and members and their affiliations, is available at the website: www.algaebiomass.org.

WASHINGTON, DC (May 22, 2017) The Algae Biomass Organization (ABO), the trade association for the algae industry, today announced Clearas Water Recovery, Valensa Interntional and Zivo Bioscience as its newest Silver members. The three leaders in algae technology and products join the growing ranks of companies and organizations that are working with ABO to develop algae into a sustainable source of human nutrition, animal feeds, water treatment services, chemicals, fuels, and countless other products.

“The ever-growing number of market applications make it an exciting time for algae right now,” said Matt Carr, executive director of the Algae Biomass Organization. “All three of these companies exhibit the impressive potential that this industry has for making a positive impact in two areas critical for human health: nutrition and water treatment.”

Montana-based CLEARAS Water Recovery is the leading provider of advanced, biological-based, water treatment technologies for municipal and industrial point source dischargers. Their proprietary Advanced Biological Nutrient Recovery (ABNR^TM) technology leverages algae’s biological benefits in a carefully controlled and continuous flow environment that removes/recovers nitrogen, phosphorus and other harmful constituents found in industrial water discharge and wastewater effluent.

Headquartered in Eustis, Florida USA (near Orlando), Valensa International is a leading science- based developer and provider of high quality nature-sourced products for nutritional supplements and functional foods. Valensa’s certified organic production facilities are located in a protected pine/saw palmetto grove. Valensa International is the proud owner of more than 60 US and International Patents for Formulations and Manufacturing (Deep Extract^® Supercritical CO₂ and O₂B^® Peroxidation Blocker stabilization.)

ZIVO Bioscience, Inc. is a Michigan-based biotech company engaged in the investigation of the health benefits of nutritive components derived from its proprietary algal cultures, and the development of natural bioactive compounds for use as dietary supplements and food ingredients, as well as biologically derived and synthetic candidates for medicinal and pharmaceutical applications in humans and animals, specifically focused on autoimmune and inflammatory response modulation.

Products made from algae are the natural solution to the energy, food, economic and climate challenges facing the world today. This tiny but powerful organism has the ability to simultaneously put fuels in vehicles, reuse CO₂, provide nutrition for animals and people, and create jobs for millions of Americans.

About the Algae Biomass Organization

The Algae Biomass Organization (ABO) is a 501 c(6) non-profit whose mission is to promote the development of viable commercial markets for renewable and sustainable commodities derived from algae. Its membership is comprised of people, companies, and organizations across the value chain. More information about ABO, including its leadership, membership, costs, benefits, and members and their affiliations, is available at the website: www.algaebiomass.org.

Awards recognize outstanding commitment to supporting algae industry research and development

WASHINGTON (February 1, 2017) – The Algae Biomass Organization (ABO), the trade association for the U.S. algae industry, today announced that Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Congressman Scott Peters (D-CA) have each been presented with the Champion of Algae Award, the group’s highest recognition for outstanding service to algae research, technology and product development.

“Sheldon Whitehouse and Scott Peters have worked tirelessly to advance new algae technologies that will maintain the economic competitiveness of the United States, and bring jobs to rural and urban areas alike.” said Matt Carr, executive director of the Algae Biomass Organization. “We look forward to working with them in the future, and many others on both sides of the aisle that are discovering how an advanced algae industry can bring so many benefits to the United States.” 

Congressman Peters was recognized for his dedication to spreading the word about algae’s potential for the economy and the environment, as well as his support for policies that can jumpstart innovation in the sector. He co-found the bipartisan Congressional Algae Caucus in 2013 to provide Members of Congress with a forum to learn about and interact with an industy that was just beginning to harness new technological developments to cultivate algae as a source of food, feed, energy, chemicals and other products. He has been a long-time advocate for algae commercialization and entrepreneurship in his home district near San Diego and nationwide.

Senator Whitehouse has been a strong supporter of the algae industry in Rhode Island as well as an architect of policies that can position algae cultivation to become a national engine for economic growth, while also protecting the environment and public health. Most recently, he introduced the Carbon Capture and Utilization Act of 2016, which would spur technologies, like algae cultivation, that can use CO2 generated during electricity production as a feedstock for valuable products. He has also worked closely with Members from coal and agriculture states to craft policies that can help them use algae technologies to create jobs and other benefits.

Products made from algae are the natural solution to the energy, food, economic and climate challenges facing the world today. This tiny but powerful organism has the ability to simultaneously put fuels in vehicles, reuse CO2, provide nutrition for animals and people, and create jobs for millions of Americans. More information can be found at allaboutalgae.com.

About the Algae Biomass Organization

The Algae Biomass Organization (ABO) is a 501 c(6) non-profit whose mission is to promote the development of viable commercial markets for renewable and sustainable commodities derived from algae. Its membership is comprised of people, companies and organizations across the value chain. More information about ABO, including its leadership, membership, costs, benefits and members and their affiliations, is available at the website: www.algaebiomass.org.