DOE Awards $24 Million for Algal Biofuels Research
On Monday, the DOE announced that is had awarded up to $24 million to three research consortiums for the commercialization of algae-based biofuels. The three consortia include partners from academia, national laboratories, and private industries located across the country. Projects are expected to continue for three years.
The three awardees are:
- The Sustainable Algal Biofuels Consortium led by Arizona State University, will get up to $6 million for testing the acceptability of algal biofuels as replacements for petroleum-based fuels, investigating the biochemical conversion of algae to fuels and products and analyzing the physical chemistry properties of algal fuels and fuel intermediates.
- The Consortium for Algal Biofuels Commercialization led by the University of California, San Diego, will receive up to $9 million developing algae as a robust biofuels feedstock by focusing on algal crop protection, algal nutrient utilization, and genetic tools.
- The Cellana, LLC Consortium led by Cellana, LLC, of Hawaii, will also receive up to $9 million for examining the large-scale production of fuels and feed from microalgae grown in seawater, new algal harvesting technologies with pilot-scale cultivation test beds, and for developing marine microalgae as animal feed for the aquaculture industry.
SHOW ME THE MONEY:Funding of $85 million for Algal and Advanced Biofuels
The U.S. Department of Energy (“DOE”) today announced Recovery Act funding of up to $85 million over a three year period for the development of algae-based biofuels and advanced, infrastructure-compatible biofuels. DOE wants leading scientists and engineers from universities, private industry, and government to collaborate in developing advanced biofuels and a thriving domestic bio-industry. Examples of advanced biofuels include green aviation fuels, green gasoline, and green diesel from a variety of biomass feedstocks.
The DOE will award between $25 million and $50 million to one or two teams that develop cost-effective algae-based biofuels. The remaining $35 million will be awarded to one team that can use the existing infrastructure to produce, distribute and transport algae-based biofuels.
Only teams may apply and applications are due September 14, 2009. No letters of intent are required.
Algal Fuels Developments
The recent blog posting (available here) regarding Exxon's $600 million investment in biofuels served as a reminder to me that comments are due soon (August 3, 2009) on the Department of Energy's draft "National Algal Biofuels Technology Roadmap" (the "Roadmap").
The Roadmap was prepared by a working group commissioned by DOE. The working group was commissioned to assess the current state of algae technology and to determine the next steps toward commercialization. For more information, see my earlier blog.
To submit comments, complete the "Algal Road-Mapping: Request for Information (RFI) Response Form" and submit it as an attachment to an e-mail message addressed to algaeRFI@go.doe.gov
Further, Gary Hunt has reported (available here) that Prize Capital, LLC has issued a $10 million algae fuel prize to encourage the development of advanced algal fuels. For more information about this contest, click here.
Exxon Sinks $600M Into Algae-Based Biofuels in Major Strategy Shift
Oil giant Exxon Mobil Corp., the world’s largest and richest publicly traded oil company, is making a major jump into renewable energy with a $600 million investment in algae-based biofuels. Exxon is joining Synthetic Genomics Inc., a biotechnology company founded by the genomics pioneer J. Craig Venter, to research and develop next-generation biofuels from sunlight, water and waste carbon dioxide by photosynthetic pond scum.
The partnership will last five to six years and will involve the creation of a new test facility in San Diego to study algae-growing method and oil extraction techniques. Exxon’s investment includes $300 million for in-house studies and potentially more than $300 million to Synthetic Genomics to scale up the technology for commercial production if research and development milestones are successfully met.
The partnership admits that it faces many obstacles, such as type of algae to use, the algae-growing environment, and the scale required for commercial use, to achieve this commercial production goal. Even in light of these challenges, algae holds many potential advantages over other sources of biofuels. One advantage is that algae grows in areas not suited for food crops, using pools of brackish water or even farming them in seawater. Additionally, algae needs carbon dioxide to grow, a benefit that could be used to help cut greenhouse gas emissions that cause global warming.
Show me the Money: USDA funded Research for Small Businesses
The Department of Agriculture ("USDA") is now accepting proposals for its Small Business Innovation Research Program ("SBIR"). SBIR has $18.5 million available to fund research projects that address important problems facing American agriculture. Research areas include, but are not limited to:
- Biofuels and biobased products;
- Air, water, and soils;
- Rural development;
- Aquaculture; and
- Animal Manure management
Individual awards can be as high as $90,000 and proposals are due September 3, 2009. For more information click here.
Click here for more information on USDA funding opportunities.
National Algal Biofuels Technology Roadmap
The Department of Energy ("DOE") has issued a Request for Information ("RFI") to solicit feedback on the DOE's draft "National Algal Biofuels Technology Roadmap" (the "Roadmap").
The Roadmap was prepared by a working group commissioned by DOE. The working group was commissioned to assess the current state of algae technology and to determine the next steps toward commercialization.
DOE is specifically seeking feedback related to the following questions:
- What areas omitted by the Roadmap would be important in defining R&D needs as they pertain to the following topics?
a. Algae biology
b. Algae cultivation
c. Algae processing (harvesting and dewatering)
d. Extraction
e. Fuel conversion
f. Fuel end-use - Are there any additional, key areas that should be included or any areas that need further elaboration?
- Are there errors or misrepresentations of any information that need to be addressed?
- Is there over-representation of certain barrier areas relative to other areas that warrant editing?
To submit comments, complete the "Algal Road-Mapping: Request for Information (RFI) Response Form" and submit it as an attachment to an e-mail message addressed to algaeRFI@go.doe.gov
Comments must be provided by no later than 11:59 PM EDT on August 3, 2009.
Sapphire Energy Raises $100 Million for Algae Biofuel Development
Sapphire Energy, a start up located in San Diego, announced yesterday that it has raised over $100 million. Key investors include Cascade Investments LLC (Bill Gates' personal investment company) and Venrock (a Rockefeller family venture capital firm).
Sapphire Energy is using algae that has been genetically modified to produce maximum amounts of oil. The company hopes to reach commercial production in three to five years, and predicts that it will be able to produce crude oil at $50 to $80 a barrel. Now that Sapphire Energy has significant financial backing, its next challenge will be to make the economics of mass producing oil from algae work and proving that its technology is scaleable.
