Algae on the move as 650 flock to Algal Biomass Summit

In Arizona, numerous algal biofuels and biomaterial announcements highlighted the first two days of activity at the 4th annual Algal Biomass Summit, held this year in Phoenix.

Speaking before several hundred attendees, Gov. Jan Brewer of Arizona committed a total of $4 million towards establishment of an algae research center, which will be known as the Arizona Center for Algae Technologies and Innovations, and which has been developed by Science Foundation Arizona and Arizona State University. $2 million had been previously committed and $2 million reresented new funding.

More on the Arizona Center story.

In Washington, the US House of Representatives passed H.R. 4168, the Algae-based Renewable Fuel Promotion Act, which had been driven towards passage by a bi-partisan group led by Reps. Harry Teague (D-NM), Mary Bono Mack (R-CA), Dave Reichert (R-WA) and Brian Bilbray (R-CA).

The bill will give algae-based biofuel tax parity with cellulosic biofuels with respect to a $1.01 per gallon production tax credit and a 50 percent bonus depreciation for biofuel plant property.

“Today, the House sent an unmistakable message of bipartisan support to the hundreds of companies, scientists, entrepreneurs and government agencies working to accelerate the development of algae-based fuels, which will create jobs, decrease emissions and reduce our nation’s dependence on imported fossil fuels,” said Mary Rosenthal, Executive Director of ABO.

However, as of press time, the Senate had not moved forward with the bill, which backers are attempting to pass before the Senate breaks for its pre-election recess. Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma had placed a procedural hold on the attempt to pass the bill by unanimous consent, with backers reporting that he had raised concerns about increased subsidies for renewable fuels as well as the prospects for algae as a fuel feedstock.

More on the House bill.

In Colorado, Professors Thomas Bradley and Bryan Willson at Colorado State, relying on data from the the CSU Engines and Energy Conversion Laboratory and Solix Biofuels, released the first study to directly compare the complete manufacturing process of algae, petroleum diesel, and soybean biodiesel. The authors found that algal fuels reduced greenhouse gas emissions, is more scalable and has lower energy consumption than soy biodiesel. The study was published in the Journal of Environmental Science and Technology.

More on the Colorado story.