AlgaeBio

AlgaeBio’s Edwards nearly set to unveil ABO Algae Industry Survey results

General Algae News , , , ,

In the words of a former osculation-obsessed game-show host: “And the survey says . . .!”
Dr. Mark Edwards, Vice-President of Corporate Development and Marketing at Algae Biosciences Incorporated, is preparing to release the results of his annual Algal Biomass Organization (ABO) Algae Industry Survey this fall.

As per usual, this year’s survey polls hundreds of industry producers, scientists, technicians, suppliers, support professionals, and academics worldwide. Dr. Edwards is tentatively scheduled to release and discuss the most recent results during the fifth annual Algae Biomass Summit, which runs from Oct. 24 to 27 at Minneapolis, Minn.

“This survey is an industry barometer of sorts. It gives the industry some strategic direction,” says Dr. Edwards, an Arizona State University professor, award-winning author, and renowned “algae evangelist” who focuses on algae’s potential in freedom foods, agribusiness, and sustainable energy.

“The ABO’s director has used it multiple times to lobby Congress. It quantifies various topics. It prioritizes a lot of issues in the industry. It’s really a big deal.”

AlgaeBio, an Arizona biotechnology company, is positioning itself to take a leadership role in the global microalgae industry in the coming months. Topping AlgaeBio’s agenda, on a short-term basis, is the production of ultra-pure omega-3 fatty acid oils for international customers in the nutraceutical and food additive sectors.

AlgaeBio announced in mid-August a $5-million, first-phase expansion to its production facilities near Holbrook, Ariz., which will allow the company to reach large-scale commercial production levels by very early 2012.

The initial phase of expansion calls for the manufacture and incorporation of 1,500 of AlgaeBio’s proprietary bioreactors, as well as harvesting and support equipment, which will be housed in a new addition to the facility.

The ABO’s annual Algae Industry Survey quizzes respondents in the areas of input and production challenges, social and economic issues, and product potential. More than a third of respondents have more than five years’ experience in the industry.

This year’s survey has also added questions about new jobs created in the algae industry. “The ethanol industry has always been about jobs, but in the algae industry, we haven’t been on that platform, so to speak,” says Dr. Edwards. “We thought it was time to ask those questions and see what kind of answers we got.”

This year’s Algae Biomass Summit will bring together industry professionals from all over the world, including the biofuels, animal feeds, supplements and foods, bioplastics, fertilizers, carbon partitioning, genetic systems, and engineering sectors.

Thanks to AlgaeBio’s market-leading production capabilities, downstream opportunities include: pharmaceuticals, such as designer proteins, vaccines, enzymes, antibodies, and research agents; sustainable biofuels; macroalgae for human food; organic pigments that can replace synthetic dyes in food and cosmetics; organic compounds called carotenoids, which as potent antioxidants reduce cell damage and fight disease; and liquid feed for marine life.

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ABOUT ALGAE BIOSCIENCES INCORPORATED: AlgaeBio is an Arizona biotechnology company that researches, develops, and manufactures ultra-pure products from micro and macro algae such as nutraceuticals, food additives, and pharmaceuticals. With access to near-perfect algae growing conditions, exclusive aquaculture access to a pristine brine water supply, and advanced proprietary technology, AlgaeBio produces superior human and animal consumable products, as well as offering advanced algae-based products and technologies for distribution into the agribusiness, biofuel, and aquaculture markets. AlgaeBio owns and operates large-scale production facilities near Holbrook, Ariz., and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Algae Biosciences Corporation.

Source: http://algaenews.com/2011/09/algaebio%E2%80%99s-edwards-nearly-set-to-unveil-abo-algae-industry-survey-results/

‘Algae’s promise’ to take the podium at DARPA’s 100YSS public symposium

General Algae News , , ,

Mark Edwards is confident that algae will be a starship sensation. After all, it’s already a regular marvel right here on the third rock from the sun.
Edwards, the Vice-President of Corporate Development and Marketing with Algae Biosciences Incorporated, has been chosen to present two scientific papers that promote the wonders of algae for the 100 Year Starship Study, an initiative headed up by the United States government’s Defense Advance Research Project Agency (DARPA) in collaboration with the NASA Ames Research Center.

Edwards, an Arizona State University professor, award-winning author, and celebrated “algae evangelist,” will be promoting the promise of algae, a quintessential building block of life on earth, in two separate categories — habitats and environmental science, and biology and space medicine — during the 100 Year Starship Study public symposium in Orlando, Fla., from Sept. 30 to Oct. 2.

DARPA’s 100 Year Starship program aims, over the next century, to work toward achieving interstellar travel, while delivering spinoff benefits along the way that will benefit mankind. The most resonant papers presented in Orlando will be reviewed, revised, and published internationally.

“A lot of the things we’re doing in Holbrook (at AlgaeBio’s production facility in northeast Arizona) are the same kinds of things we would do on a starship, just on a smaller scale,” says Edwards. “It’s all about nutrient recycle-recovery, and nutrient efficiency.

“This is a display of algae’s promise. We can produce everything we need on that spaceship with algae — freedom foods, functional foods, nutraceuticals, food supplements, medicines, and vaccines.”

AlgaeBio, an Arizona biotechnology company, is positioning itself to take a leadership role in the global microalgae industry in the coming months. First on the agenda is producing ultra-pure omega-3 fatty acid oils for international customers in the nutraceutical and food additive sectors.

Edwards’ paper on habitats and environmental science, co-authored by Robert Henrikson of Richmond, Calif., and Mark Buehrer of Bellingham, Wash., will focus on algae-based smart microfarms, which produce sustainable food, feed, oxygen, and other forms of energy by recycling the existing waste stream. Algae feeds high in nutrient density enhance growth and development for fish and animals, while organic algae biofertilizers accelerate growth of plants grown in water, air, or soil.

Edwards’ paper on biology and space medicine notes that algae is integral in the production of medicine, vaccines, and antibodies.

“I think these presentations are going to capture the imagination of a lot of people, and allow us to profile what algae can do for great numbers of people,” says Edwards. “There’s a lot to be gained here for the algae industry.

“I’m a big believer that a rising tide lifts all boats, and if I can create excitement about this subject, that will create even more innovation,” he adds. “On that starship, we’re producing food and other forms of energy with abundance methods — using inputs that are free, surplus, and sustainable.

“If you can create an algae-based production system on a starship, why can’t you do this on your back porch?”

AlgaeBio announced in mid-August a $5-million, first-phase expansion to its production facilities near Holbrook, Ariz., which will allow the company to reach large-scale commercial production levels by very early 2012.

Thanks to AlgaeBio’s market-leading production capabilities, downstream opportunities include: pharmaceuticals, such as designer proteins, vaccines, enzymes, antibodies, and research agents; sustainable biofuels; macroalgae for human food; organic pigments that can replace synthetic dyes in food and cosmetics; organic compounds called carotenoids, which as potent antioxidants reduce cell damage and fight disease; and liquid feed for marine life.

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ABOUT ALGAE BIOSCIENCES INCORPORATED: AlgaeBio is an Arizona biotechnology company that researches, develops, and manufactures ultra-pure products from micro and macro algae such as nutraceuticals, food additives, and pharmaceuticals. With access to near-perfect algae growing conditions, exclusive aquaculture access to a pristine brine water supply, and advanced proprietary technology, AlgaeBio produces superior human and animal consumable products, as well as offering advanced algae-based products and technologies for distribution into the agribusiness, biofuel, and aquaculture markets. AlgaeBio owns and operates large-scale production facilities near Holbrook, Ariz., and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Algae Biosciences Corporation.

Source: http://algaenews.com/2011/09/%E2%80%98algae%E2%80%99s-promise%E2%80%99-to-take-the-podium-at-darpa%E2%80%99s-100yss-public-symposium/

Opportunity knocks for algae industry, thanks to White House biofuel initiative

General Algae News , , , , , ,

The algae industry is getting its long-awaited chance to step into the biofuels batter’s box.
In mid-August, President Obama announced a federal government biofuels initiative that will see the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the U.S. Department of Energy, and the U.S. Navy split the tab on a $510-million investment over the next three years. The White House program is aimed at domestic production of advanced drop-in aviation and marine biofuels to operate military and commercial transportation — and, on a bigger scale, reducing America’s dependency on foreign oil.

While corn-based ethanol has had a significant head start, thanks to former President George W. Bush’s 2005 Energy Policy Act, this is the time for algae to flex its biofuel-producing muscle, say advocates such as Dr. Mark Edwards of Algae Biosciences Incorporated.

“If we replace corn ethanol with algae, we can do the whole thing with a lot less cost, a lot less pollution, and a lot more energy efficiency,” says Dr. Edwards, the Vice-President of Corporate Development and Marketing at AlgaeBio, and a renowned global expert on algae’s potential.

AlgaeBio, which announced in mid-August a $5-million, first-phase expansion of its production facilities near Holbrook, Ariz., will focus initially on producing omega-3 fatty acid oils for international nutraceutical and food additive markets. However, AlgaeBio is acutely aware of fuel-based opportunities with macroalgae — and is currently engaged in targeted research in the biofuels arena.

With an RFP to be issued soon, the White House’s biofuels initiative will see private industry investments matched on a one-to-one basis.

The USDA will address feedstocks, the DOE will oversee technological considerations, and the Navy is expected to be the main consumer of new fuels, to begin with. Government officials expect the creation of a national biofuels industry will also create construction and refinery jobs, as well as economic opportunity in rural America.

The controversial U.S. corn-based ethanol industry has its fair share of detractors, including scientists, economists, food policy experts, and environmental groups. And while algae has not yet been conclusively proven as a drop-in biofuel option, proponents believe this is algae’s golden opportunity.

“Algae can be grown on non-arable land, using non-potable water, and produce many times the amount of fermentable sugars that corn can,” notes AlgaeBio founder and Chief Executive Officer Andy Ayers. “It’s amazing how much more productive macroalgae is for biofuels, compared to corn.

“And because the product is not a human or animal food in any way, we can use saline aquifers that contain heavy metals, and still produce biofuel from that without any problem,” adds Ayers. “So instead of hundreds of thousands of acres available for this, there are literally millions of acres available that can’t be used for anything else.”

Algae for biofuel can be grown in waste, grey, saline, or reused water. It improves air quality, by producing oxygen rather than greenhouse gases. Producing biofuel with algae boasts a net energy yield, and a small water, land, and environmental footprint, including a minimal use of fertilizers. And if algae for biofuel is grown in contaminant-free water, it also yields high-protein human and animal food, once the oil has been removed for fuel.

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ABOUT ALGAE BIOSCIENCES INCORPORATED: AlgaeBio is an Arizona biotechnology company that researches, develops, and manufactures ultra-pure products from micro and macro algae such as nutraceuticals, food additives, and pharmaceuticals. With access to near-perfect algae growing conditions, exclusive aquaculture access to a pristine brine water supply, and advanced proprietary technology, AlgaeBio produces superior human and animal consumable products, as well as offering advanced algae-based products and technologies for distribution into the agribusiness, biofuel, and aquaculture markets. AlgaeBio owns and operates large-scale production facilities near Holbrook, Ariz., and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Algae Biosciences Corporation.

Source: http://algaenews.com/2011/09/opportunity-knocks-for-algae-industry-thanks-to-white-house-biofuel-initiative/