ABO Launches Summer of Algae II

August 17, 2012
AlgaeIndustryMagazine.com

n Monday, August 20, several members of the Algae Biomass Organization around the country are opening their doors for local and national officials to showcase the potential of the algae industry to provide local jobs, domestic fuels, and sustainable feed, food and other products.

The events stretch from Florida to Washington, and range from small briefings with local officials, to larger tours of laboratories and commercial facilities that include panel discussions among regional algae companies and research groups.

Monday, August 20

The Summer of Algae kicks off in San Diego, with a joint event hosted by some of the biggest leaders in algae research and commercialization: The San Diego Center for Algae Biotechnology at UC San Diego, Sapphire Energy, General Atomics, Synthetic Genomics, Cellana, and CleanTECH San Diego.

The day will begin with a panel discussion by leaders at each hosting organization, followed by a tour of the UC San Diego algae greenhouses and laboratories. After the discussion and tour, several partners are also scheduling visits to their facilities at other locations.

Tuesday, August 21st
Two events will be held August 21st. In Colorado, algae production systems provider Solix BioSystems, Inc. and the Colorado Center for Biorefining and Biofuels will host a tour and presentation for local and national officials of the latest algae industry developments in that state.

In Minnesota, St. Cloud State University and Algaedyne will show off some of the Midwest’s latest algae research and commercialization efforts. University and company representatives will discuss technical approaches and emerging business-academic partnerships, followed by a tour of the St. Cloud State’s Fluid Dynamics Lab.

Monday, August 27th
The second week of the campaign begins at Algenol’s facilities in Bonito Springs, Florida. In addition to local and national officials’ chance to see the company’s latest developments in using algae to produce ethanol, the company will also be hosting 50 local science teachers to tour the facility as part of its commitment to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics) education.

Thursday, August 30

In Seattle, Washington, Matrix Genetics will be making an exciting announcement while they give officials a first-hand look at their groundbreaking research focused on producing renewable fuel and specialty chemicals derived from cyanobacteria (blue-green algae). Aircraft manufacturer Boeing will also be on hand to discuss the importance of algae biofuels to the aviation industry, and the potential for a robust algae industry presence in the Northwest.

Additional events to be held over the next few months include Arizona State University in Arizona, Phycal in Ohio, BioProcess Algae in Iowa, and Duke Energy in Kentucky. A full list of events can be found on the Algae Biomass Organization’s Blog: www.algaebiomass.org/blog.