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The spring 2016 Algae Testbed Public-Private Partnership (ATP3) workshop entitled, "Principles and Processes: Algae Culture Maintenance, Production and Downstream Processing" is approaching. The workshop runs May 16-20, 2016, and will be held at the Santa Fe Community College and the Los Alamos National Laboratory's New Mexico Consortium (LANL NMC). The event is limited to 15 people, and will include a tour of the LANL NMC and field training including collecting cultures from ponds...

? Newsweek, "Biofuel From Fungi: Barnyard Poop Has Potential To Be Broken Down And Turned Into Energy" ? EUWID Paper, "Kaidi Plans Biofuels Production In Finland" ? Genomatica, "Versalis And Genomatica Produce Bio-Rubber With Bio-Butadiene From Sugars" ? National Renewable Energy Laboratory, "Renewable Fuels From Algae Boosted By NREL Refinery Process" ? Comet Biorefining, "Comet Biorefining To Build First Commercial Biomass Sugar Plant In Sarnia,...

On October 2, 2015, at the 2015 Algae Biomass Organization Summit, the Algae Foundation announced a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) funded education initiative to enhance algae workforce development. The Algae Foundation is a non-profit organization committed to expanding the algae industry though research, education, and outreach, and plays an important part in advancing the bioeconomy beyond ethanol. The DOE-funded initiative will focus on developing a college degree in algal cultivation...

The Algae Biomass Summit, held in Washington, D.C. last week and claimed by organizers as the largest algae gathering in the world, featured the announcement of a new X-Prize to incentivize development of zero-carbon energy technologies, and some very honest and illuminating plenary sessions featuring leaders of algae businesses. More reports can be found on the Algae Biomass Organization's blog and by perusing the crowd-sourced reporting at Twitter #ABS15. BRAG's Dr. Richard E. Engler...

On September 30, 2015, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) held a workshop on genetically engineered (GE) algae to give stakeholders an opportunity to hear about EPA's plans for improving its risk assessments of GE algae under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). Dr. Jeff Morris, Deputy Director of Programs for the Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics (OPPT), welcomed participants and laid out the scope of the meeting: to assist EPA in understanding the...

Stakeholders working with algae to produce chemicals and fuels should take note of these upcoming opportunities: EPA's "Workshop for Public Input on Considerations for Risk Assessment of Genetically Engineered Algae," September 30, 2015. Registration closes on September 25, 2015;   The U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Request for Information (RFI) from algae stakeholders regarding their views on the requirements necessary to develop reliable and sustainable supplies of...

On September 3, 2015, the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy’s Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) released a Request for Information (RFI) titled “High Yields through Productivity and Integration Research.”  BETO is seeking input from industry, academia, and other stakeholders regarding supply systems and services for the cultivation, logistics, and preprocessing of algal feedstocks. This RFI provides algae stakeholders with an...

Hear BRAG's Richard E. Engler, Ph.D., and other panelists on Thursday, October 1, at the Algae Biomass Summit, which runs September 29 – October 2, 2015, in Washington, D.C. This is where leading producers of algae products go to network with industry suppliers and technology providers, where project developers converse with utility executives, and where researchers and technology developers rub elbows with venture capitalists. Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. is a proud sponsor. Register...

"Legal, Regulatory & Political Considerations In Commercializing Algal Products" Panel Presented At ABO, October 1, 2015 Hear BRAG's Richard E. Engler, Ph.D., and other panelists on Thursday, October 1, at the Algae Biomass Summit, which runs September 29 – October 2, 2015, in Washington, D.C. This is where leading producers of algae products go to network with industry suppliers and technology providers, where project developers converse with utility executives, and...

On August 25, 2015, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a notice in the Federal Register announcing a Public Meeting and Opportunity for Public Comment on Considerations for Risk Assessment of Genetically Engineered Algae. The public meeting, entitled "Workshop for Public Input on Considerations for Risk Assessment of Genetically Engineered Algae," is intended to receive public input and comments on the data needs of EPA to support risk assessments of biotechnology...

The Expert Workshop focusing on technical questions for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) development of a biotechnology algae considerations document is drawing near. The workshop will be open to the public and is scheduled for September 30, 2015, from 8:00 a.m. to noon. More details, including instructions on how to register for the workshop, will be made available in a Federal Register notice. More information regarding the biotechnology algae project is available in...

On August 12, 2015, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced three webinars to review the new features of the updated online Premanufacture Notifications (PMN) Submission System. The new web-based submission system for the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Section 5 submissions is replacing the ePMN reporting software that is currently in use. The first webinar is on August 26, 2015, from 1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m., and will cover the process of registering with...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced last week that it is developing a project intended to support public dialog concerning the development and use of synthetic biology (Synbio) algae. EPA has oversight responsibility for the production and use of intergeneric microorganisms, including cyanobacteria, eukaryotic microalgae (genetically modified (GM) algae), and their products by application of genetic engineering approaches, including those called Synbio. EPA's recently...

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced up to $25 million in funding to reduce the cost of algal biofuels to less than $5 per gasoline gallon equivalent (gge) by 2019. On behalf of the Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO), the DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy posted a notice of a funding opportunity, entitled "Targeted Algal Biofuels and Bioproducts" (TABB). The TABB Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) looks for pathways to overcome the key...

On August 20, 2014, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced that it intends to issue a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) sometime in September to help reduce the cost of algae biofuels and bioproducts. DOE explains in the announcement that the Agency's Bioenergy Technologies Office's (BETO) "2019 projected state of technology for the cost of algal biofuels is modeled at about $7 per gallon gasoline gallon equivalent, without valuable co-products such as animal feed or...

On July 28, 2014, Sapphire Energy (Sapphire) announced that James Levine would replace CJ Warner as the Company's President and CEO. Mr. Levine had been the CEO of Verenium Corporation (Verenium). San Diego-based Sapphire focuses on the production of green crude made from algae. Verenium is an industrial biotechnology company developing commercial-scale enzyme solutions. Sapphire's press release with more information is available online....

On June 23, 2014, U.S. algae developer Cellana, Inc. announced that it has entered into a letter of intent with Galil Algae Cooperative Agriculture Society Limited of Israel for the production of high-value algae products for aquaculture applications. The primary objective of this effort is to identify, cultivate, develop, and scale-up algae strains with immediate commercial value, emphasizing the high-value components for existing aquaculture, mariculture, nutraceuticals, pharmaceuticals,...