Let me first say that Minneapolis is a great town. The Vikings were playing the Packers at home when we arrived on Sunday. Our hotel had a lovely gym, which was perfect because our colleague, Jim Duffy, was kind enough to introduce me to the most divine steak I’ve ever tasted at the Capital Grille. But it’s so cold. It is so cold.

Fortunately, the atmosphere in the Hyatt Regency was a lot warmer. Our CEO, Craig Stanley, and our manager of Business Development in Puerto Rico, George Economou, were among the participants at the first-ever Algae Biomass Summit Finance Symposium. Todd Taylor of Fredrikson & Byron, and Bill Lese of Braemar Energy were the co-chairs for the finance symposium in which the CBO team presented to investment-related professionals in the algae industry.

At other times, our group of three was busy at our booth in the exhibition and poster hall, and we attended the plenary sessions as well as the commercial, biology and engineering tracks. We also enjoyed hearing conference speaker, U.S. Senator Al Franken, trying to pronounce the word “algal”.

Some of the most notable presentations included Biomat’s plan to produce an algae system that can be contained within the metal shipping containers, and Jaap van Hal’s presentation, “Seaweed Biorefinery—The Other Algal Biomass” along with his Sea-Combine harvesting concept.

We were fortunate to see Brian Goodall for the second time in a week; he represents SRS, an algae oil extraction company. What really sets SRS apart from other companies is that they claim to know how to speak the language of both the algal farmers and the end-product users to make those relationships lucrative. I also had the chance to meet Emily Chad of Frederikson & Byron. While we both kept tabs on our booths, she schooled me on the goings on in Minneapolis.

The lunches were … interesting … but gratis with our conference fees so we ate with the rest of the 797 attendees. We met wonderful folks like Iain with Amec; they were giving out lovely bags at their booth and threw a smashing bash under the guise of networking at The Local. Plus, I always enjoying seeing Algea2Omega’s Geronimos and Jason, and I learned more than I ever thought I could know about Greek cooking and fireworks.

I was lucky enough to escape the conference’s culinary misadventures and have lunch on Wednesday with Algenol Biofuels and its funny and entertaining CEO, Paul Woods. We all listened intently as the president of Sapphire Energy, C.J. Warner, spoke for nearly an hour. C.J. brought great insights and related a very large amount of highly technical information to a huge group in a way that was clear and thought provoking. She was incredibly likeable and inspiring.

All in all, it was a great, well-organized conference. It had every element a conference needs to deliver: interesting people, great speakers, informative classes, mixers with good food and drink, and the opportunity to meet professionals with whom we hope to work. Next year the conference is in Denver, and my goal is to talk to attendees about CBO’s algae projects and how many more we plan to build!

Cori Cheairs, CBO Financial Director of Development

Below is a brief summary of the FOA from DOE.  The full FOA can be found here.

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science, Office of Biological and Environmental Research (BER) hereby announces interest in receiving applications for research that supports the Genomics Science Program and addresses DOE’s missions in energy and the environment in the following research areas:

a) Microbial systems design for biofuels, from computer modeling to experimental validation: To develop modeling algorithms and innovative biosystems design technologies to define, build, and apply functional biological modules for the generation of novel biological systems that advance toward the production of biofuels; and

b) Plant systems design for bioenergy: To develop novel technologies to re-design bioenergy crops that can grow in marginal environments while producing high yield of biomass that can be easily converted to biofuels. Applications should also address potential societal implications of engineered organisms.

Registration for ABO’s 2012 Legislative Fly-in is now open.

REGISTER NOW

The ABO invites our members to attend the 2012 Annual ABO Membership Legislative Fly-in being held on February 29th and March 1st in Washington, DC.  We encourage our members to take advantage of this opportunity to meet with Members of the 113^th Congress and to advocate for ABO’s legislative agenda.  This has been scheduled the same week as the ARPA-E Technology conference also being conducted in Washington, D.C.

The ABO will schedule and coordinate all meetings with your U.S. Senators and Representatives.  In addition, ABO staff and our DC counsel, K&L Gates, will brief participants before your visits on Capitol Hill, accompany you to all meetings and provide “leave behind” materials.

The 2012 Fly-in will begin on Wednesday, February 29th with participant check-in from 3:00-3:30 p.m. at K&L Gates, 1601 K Street, Washington, DC.  A 3:30 p.m. briefing on ABO’s key legislative issues will follow.  Participants will be organized into small groups for individual meetings with legislators and their senior staff.

All participants will reconvene on Thursday, March 1st for a light continental breakfast (location TBD) followed by individual meetings on the Hill throughout the morning.

A legislative briefing is schedule from 12:00 – 2:00 p.m. at the [location TBD], featuring key speakers from the Senate and the House as well as a state of the industry presentation.

The Fly-in will conclude, on the evening of March 1^st with our 2^nd Annual Industry Award Reception hosted at the Honeywell Building, 101 Constitution Avenue, Washington, DC from 6:00 – 7:30 PM.

We look forward to your participation in the Fly-in.

Mary Rosenthal

Executive Director

Algal Biomass Organization

2012 Legislative Fly-In Schedule

Participants of the symposium, who are all in the frontlines of algae biotechnology research, will either give an oral presentation or present a poster on topics ranging from genetic engineering and metabolic flux analysis, to photosynthesis, life cycle analysis, cultivation and photo bioreactor design. In addition, participants will visit AlgaePARC (Algae Production And Research Centre), which is the first research centre that compares different outdoor photobioreactor designs at an industrial scale worldwide (www.algaePARC.nl).

The exclusivity for young researchers combined with the interactivity and broad scope of the topics makes the Young Algaeneers Symposium a unique initiative, which is supported by the board of recommendation consisting of Prof. R. Wijffels (NL), Dr. L. Brentner (NL), Prof. C. Vílchez (ES), Prof. S. Mayfield (USA), Prof. L. Nedbal (CZ), Prof. W. Vermaas (USA), Prof. O. Kruse (DE), Prof. J. Steyer (FR) and Prof. M. Tredici (IT).

Participants can apply until the 1st of February 2012. Further information, regarding the application, location and costs, can be found on the Young Algaeneers Symposium website (http://www.vlaggraduateschool.nl/courses/young-algae.htm).

Contact: young.algaeneers@wur.nl

Calif.-based Sapphire Energy Inc. recently announced that its white paper has been published by Nucleic Acids Research Journal, a scientific publication. The white paper, titled, “An exogenous chloroplast genome for complex sequence manipulation in algae,” outlines the methodology for the design, construction, modification and cellular introduction of the chloroplast genome from the green algae Chlamydomonas reinhardtii.Chloroplasts, found in plants and algae, are responsible for producing organic molecules from atmospheric carbon dioxide.

According to Sapphire, using the methodology described in the white paper, the authors were able to simultaneously modify multiple independent regions, including genes that encode core subunits of the photosynthetic apparatus, in the chloroplast genome of living algae cells. The company further states that this work should allow for the creation of genetic diversity in all regions of a chloroplast genome of potentially any photosynthetic organism.

In the white paper, the authors specify that through the extensive use of sequence stabilization strategies, they were able to assemble the ex vivo genome in yeast from a collection of overlapping fragments. The assembled genome was them moved into bacteria before being transformed into the algae cells. “Once transformed into algae, the substituted genome recombines with the endogenous genome, resulting in a hybrid plastome comprising modifications in disparate loci,” said the authors in the report.

In a press release describing the achievement, Sapphire Energy notes that chloroplast genomes present a unique opportunity for the field of synthetic biology. “In a single, relatively small molecule, they encode the most important genes of photosynthesis, nature’s principle method for converting sunlight into chemical energy,” the company stated in the release. “These naturally minimized, manipulable genomes are of great interest for metabolic engineering for foods, fuels, and myriad bioproducts, and are ideally suited target for synthetic biology.”

“With this breakthrough, Sapphire Energy has shown that it is possible to make algae—the world’s most efficient photosynthetic organism—even more efficient,” said Jason Pyle, Sapphire Energy founder and CEO. ”This work represents the first steps toward a novel approach for creating genetic diversity in any or all regions of a chloroplast genome, and may have applications in other plants.”

Source:  http://biorefiningmagazine.com/articles/5988/sapphire-energy-publishes-scientific-paper-on-chloroplast-genome

In a laboratory in Gilbert they’re turning vats of green slime into jet fuel. And food additives and vitamins and animal feed.

These acts of alchemy are happening at a place called Heliae Development. Company CEO Dan Simon thinks algae growing and processing could mean big bucks for Arizona.

Simon doesn’t mince words about the potential of the algal biomass industry – an industry in which Heliae aims to become a key supplier and driver of technology.

“We truly have an opportunity to change the world,” he said.

Algae captures and stores energy from the sun, and just like with fossil fuels, that energy can be harnessed to power machines and economies.

The difference between algae and compressed dinosaur bones is time. Algae produces in a matter of days what it took heat, pressure and the carcasses of ancient animals millions of years to create.

All that stored energy comes from the sun, a renewable resource that Arizona has in abundance. Add to that numerous sources of non-potable water like salty aquifers and waste water effluent from sewage treatment facilities and dairies (for starters) in which algae thrive and it is easy to see why the state is poised to become a leading exporter of not only algae-based fuels and products, but also of the technological systems needed to grow the organisms and transform them into useful materials.

“I absolutely believe that Arizona can be a center of algae excellence, globally,” Simon said. “Arizona has the sun, the water, the know-how and entrepreneurial spirit.”

Natural resources and the efforts of companies like Heliae are what drew the Algal Biomass Organization to host its annual conference in Phoenix last year. Mary Rosenthal, executive director of the organization, said the potential for growth in the industry in the state is huge.

“I think the key is that you have the right environment,” she said. “You have the right components regarding your weather and your resources, plus you have excellent research resources. I’m sure you’re going to see good job growth, I’m sure you’re going to see production.”

At Heliae’s demonstration facility in a Gilbert business park the company is taking algae “end to end” says Simon.

They grow proprietary strains, extract the useful tidbits and hydro-process them into fuels and more at demonstration scale. It is the only facility in the country, possibly the world, consolidating all the processes on one site, and this is a key differentiator in being able to prove a commercial model to the industry and enable adoption of algae-based products on a large scale.

“Heliae is an algae technology company,” said Simon. “We want to be the world’s first choice in commercial-scale algae production solutions for any group interested in commercially producing algae-based food, feed, renewable chemical, and/or fuel products. We aim to be their one-stop-shop for the strains, growth system, and harvest or extraction technologies. One size does not fit all in algae production and we are the integrator that delivers a system tailored to our clients’ production objectives.”

Projects might include growing algae with high lipid contents to turn into jet fuel or bio-diesel, or growing the stuff for human foods, feed for animals, bio-plastics or ingredients in cosmetics. And the best part is that growing and processing algae for one product, say, fuels results in co-products to fill other markets.

One harvest, said Simon, might produce 55 percent fuel with the remaining 45 percent being other usable products in different markets.

Rosenthal and Simon both talk about the algae industry as being in a transition phase with algae-product companies taking their pilot programs to commercially viable scale-ups of their processes.

In June, Heliae announced a partnership with an aeronautics firm, Azmark, also based in Gilbert, to test algae-based jet fuel from Heliae’s demonstration facility in turbine engines made by Azmark. The turbine engines Azmark manufactures are mainly designed to power drones for military use.

The military is understandably interested in algae-based fuels, and the military market is vast. This year, for example, a California-based algae company Solazyme, produced about 75,000 gallons of algae-derived marine diesel fuel for the U.S. Navy under a contract that calls for the production of a total of about 145,000 gallons.

Simon said he expects that Heliae’s proprietary systems, which combine the environmental controls of closed-system photo-bioreactors with the cost structure of open-air algae-farming techniques to be capable of producing up to 12,000 gallons of algae-based fuels per acre per year by 2012. The industry standard today, says Simon, is between 3,000 and 4,000 gallons of fuel per acre per year.

But Heliae is not an algae-product company, and that is an important point. The company, said Simon, is focusing on the three main phases of algae growth and utilization: strain development, growth and extraction.

The company filed 21 patents this year and has more than 100 more in process. The patents cover proprietary strains of algae and the technological processes of growing them and extracting different components for various products.

“We not only want to sell our intellectual property,” Simon said. “But help in the integration of others technologies as well. There is an immense amount of innovation in our industry, the key is being able to package it and take it to market quickly.”

That means that by 2012 Heliae’s revenue stream will come from selling licenses to use integrated proprietary technology and algae strains, consulting with clients on their algae projects and designing, engineering and operating the algae facilities for and with their clients.

When talking about algae it isn’t uncommon to hear terms like “superfood” or “super-crop” but both Simon and Rosenthal are quick to point out that though the potential for algae to offset dependence of foreign oil and to supply food and other markets is huge, there is still plenty of work to be done.

And while incredibly useful, algae is no panacea for global energy woes. For one thing, scaling up the industry to be a major producer of fuels is going to be expensive. The expense, though, of the scale-up to fuel production can be offset by other algae-based products.

“What we’re seeing companies work on is a multi-market approach,” said Rosenthal. “Looking at animal feeds, looking at human nutrition, looking at nutraceuticals, looking at cosmetics and others to balance out the growth, but they all have a long-term orientation toward biofuels.”

Simon said Heliae’s goal is to eventually be able to produce fuel at a cost of $60 per barrel. He says that could happen in 3 to 7 years. Heliae has some wiggle room on that scale-up time frame perhaps unlike some other algae-tech companies because Heliae is privately backed by funding from members of the Mars family, famous for making M&Ms and other candies.

Without stockholders clamoring for a fast return on their investment, the company is able to focus on fine-tuning the technology that will make algae production and processing commercially scalable.

Source: http://www.insidetucsonbusiness.com/news/profiles/arizona-stands-at-the-threshold-of-turning-green-slime-to/article_cf5685a6-f05d-11e0-acce-001cc4c03286.html

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Tom Udall (D-NM) and Mike Crapo (R-ID) today introduced bipartisan legislation in the U.S. Senate that would help level the playingfield for advanced biofuels like algae by reforming the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) to make it more “technology neutral.

The RFS includes a traditional ethanol standard of up to 15 billion gallons by 2015, originating mostly from corn feedstock, and a separate advanced biofuels standard, known as RFS2.  Currently, the large majority of the advanced biofuel standard is limited by law to only cellulosic biofuels.  While cellulosic biofuels are an emerging technology, the current RFS2 creates an uneven playing field for other promising advanced biofuels like algae. The Udall-Crapo bill simplifies theRFS2 by making this category “technology neutral,” opening it to all advanced biofuels, including cellulosic, algae, and other technologies, at the same 21 billion gallon standard by 2022.

“The West and my home state of New Mexico are rich in opportunities for advanced biofuels, including algae, cellulosic and others.  I support the Renewable Fuels Standard, which is already helping to reduce our reliance on foreign oil, and this improvement will accelerate that success,” Udall said. “This bill simply puts all advanced biofuels on a level playing field and lets the market determine which types of fuel are produced to meet the standard.”

“Now more than ever, America needs a national energy plan that ensures we have access to reliable, affordable and cleaner domestic energy.  Algae has been credited as a very promising feedstock in our quest for national energy independence, and its inclusion in the Renewable Fuel Standard will get us one step closer to that goal,” Crapo said.

A survey conducted by the Algal Biomass Organization of companies in the algae biofuel industry indicated that creating legislative parity between algae and other advanced biofuels couldcreate more than 200,000 jobs by 2022, compared to around 50,000 without such legislative parity.

Algae biofuels are considered non-cellulose in that they produce oils as a feedstock, not cellulose or sugar, from photosynthesis. That oil can be extracted and converted into fuels like traditional gasoline.  Algae and other advanced biofuels can also be converted into high energy density fuels likediesel or jet fuel, offering additional opportunities for reducing reliance on imported oil.

Organizations supporting this legislation include the Algal Biomass Organization (ABO) and the Advanced Biofuels Association (ABFA).

Said Mary Rosenthal, Executive Director of ABO, “The Algal Biomass Organization applauds Senators Udall and Crapo for understanding the potential of algae technology to create jobs and increase energy independence while recognizing that the current renewable fuels policy is an inhibitor to our industry’s growth.  With this, we support the Renewable Fuel Parity Act of 2011 as presented today. We share his view that algae-based fuels should be at parity with other renewable fuels in the tax code and infuel standards. We will continue to work with Senator Udall on his initiative, similar House sponsored legislation, and others in Congress to accelerate the commercial development of fuels made from algae through fair and effective policies.”

“Senators Udall and Crapo continue to demonstrate their leadership and significant commitment to renewable energytechnologies and the development of America’s advanced biofuels industry. We look forward to building on our progress by ensuring comprehensive and consistent policies are enacted that encourage the growth of all biofuels, including advanced drop-in, algae, and cellulosic fuels to deliver as many gallons to back out foreign oil as quickly as possible,” said President of the ABFA, Michael McAdams.

Udall announced plans to introduce this legislation in August after touring New Mexico State University’s Energy Research Laboratory, where he discussed the state’s growing biofuels industry with NMSU President Barbara Couture and researchers from the Algal Bioenergy Program, the College of Agricultural Consumer and Environmental Sciences, and the College of Business. NMSU is part of a consortium with Los Alamos National Laboratory and 16 other entities that have received a $49 million grant from the Department of Energy to study the commercialization of algae-based fuel.

Biofuels Digest – Jim Lane

In Washington, President Obama today announced that the U.S. Departments of Agriculture, Energy and Navy will invest up to $510 million during the next three years in partnership with the private sector to produce advanced drop-in aviation and marine biofuels to power military and commercial transportation.

The initiative responds to a directive from President Obama issued in March as part of his Blueprint for A Secure Energy Future, the Administration’s framework for reducing dependence on foreign oil.

$510 million US investment – with a minimum of $510M more from private industry

The joint plan calls for the three Departments to invest a total of up to $510 million, which will require substantial cost share from private industry – of at least a one to one match. USDA will take the lead on addressing feedstocks, the DOE will take the lead on technology, and the Navy will provide a market. Each department will share the $510M tab, equally.

The US government funds will be re-directed from already authorized funding, and no additional US spending will be required. The government plans to issue an RFP shortly to bring in private industry into the effort.

“To create and stabilize an industry”

“Our goal is to create and stabilize advanced biofuels industry,” commented Secretary of Agriculture Vilsack, in making the announcement. This is not a fly by night effort – it’s a commitment to real energy future. The president has asked us to make the US more competitive, and to give us real diversification in our energy choices.”

“The Defense Production Act has been on the books since the 1950s,” Navy Secretary Mabus added. “If industries are not existent, government can help industries get off the ground. I can think of no more important strategic issue than energy security.”

“We simply buy too much fuel from out of the country,” Mabus said. “The supply shocks, the price shocks, its simply unacceptable to the military. For every dollar increase in the cost of a barrel of oil, it costs the Navy $30 million.”

Partnering with the private sector

The biofuels initiative is being steered by the White House Biofuels Interagency Work Group and Rural Council, both of which are enabling greater cross-agency collaboration to strengthen rural America. Shortly, the group will issue an RFP to seek out private partners to leverage the government investment.

“Biofuels are an important part of reducing America’s dependence on foreign oil and creating jobs here at home,” said President Obama. “But supporting biofuels cannot be the role of government alone. That’s why we’re partnering with the private sector to speed development of next-generation biofuels that will help us continue to take steps towards energy independence and strengthen communities across our country.”

“This is the first time we have addressed feedstock, technology and market risk at one time,” said USDA Secretary Vilsack. “Previous efforts aimed at one or the other slowed down the process. This is a unique and historic response to the energy challenge.”

Cutting down on $300 billion spent on imported oil

The partnership aims to reduce U.S. reliance on foreign oil and create jobs while positioning American companies and farmers to be global leaders in advanced biofuels production.  The United States spends more than $300 billion on imported crude oil per year.  Producing a domestic source of energy provides a more secure alternative to imported oil and improves our energy and national security.

“By building a national biofuels industry, we are creating construction jobs, refinery jobs and economic opportunity in rural communities throughout the country,” said Agriculture Secretary Vilsack.  “As importantly, every gallon of biofuel consumed near where it is produced cuts transportation costs and, for the military, improves energy security.”

“These pioneer plants will demonstrate advanced technologies to produce infrastructure-compatible, drop-in renewable fuels from America’s abundant biomass resources,” said Energy Secretary Chu. “It will support development of a new, rural-focused industry that will replace imported crude oil with secure, renewable fuels made here in the U.S.”

In June, President Obama signed an Executive Order establishing the first White House Rural Council to build on the Administration’s robust economic strategy for rural America and make sure that continued federal investments create maximum benefit for rural Americans. Administration officials have been working to coordinate programs across the government and encourage public-private partnerships to improve economic conditions and create jobs in rural communities.

Source: http://biofuelsdigest.com/bdigest/2011/08/16/usda-doe-usn-to-invest-510m-in-advanced-drop-in-biofuels/

The biofuels industry got married when a first generation ethanol plant walked down the isle with a second generation algae plant in Shenandoah, Iowa. BioProcess Algae and Green Plains Renewable Energy (GPRE) tied the knot and celebrated their anniversary last month with the announcement that their first babies, a set of Grower Harvester bioreactors, went online. This marked the last phase into adulthood – the algae plant is months away from commercial scale production.

Tim Burns, CEO of BioProcess Algae said this project is about both co-location opportunities as well as adding value to carbon. The algae plant will utilize the waste streams of the ethanol plant including waste nutrients and waste water. In addition, the algae plant uses the carbon dioxide from the corn ethanol plant to grow and thrive. Suddenly a product produced from a first generation ethanol plant with what amounts to negative value now has a tremendous positive value to a second generation plant. When people figure out that carbon from things such as a first generation ethanol plant has value, others will be on board, said Burns.

Years ago, Todd Becker, CEO of Green Plains Renewable Energy, said his company began looking for emerging technologies that could add value to his plant. These included adding things such as inedible corn oil extraction technology, but also the partnership with a second generation biorefinery that could utilize their plant’s waste streams. His company recognized the incredible partnership before any others and this fall his company along with BioProcess Algae will be building their algae farm, the last phase before they begin to produce commercial scale algae biofuels.

In the future, Becker and Burns both believe that every first generation biofuel plant will marry a second generation technology and with these marriages, the biofuels industry will rise to the challenge of producing billions upon billions of gallons of domestic renewable energy for America.

Learn more about the first biofuel marriage here: Domestic Fuel Cast

You can also subscribe to the DomesticFuel Cast here.

Source: http://domesticfuel.com/2011/05/31/dfcast-the-biofuels-industry-gets-married/