Algal Biofuels Technology Roadmap Currently Under Development
Dan Fishman, BCS, Incorporated
On December 9 and 10, 2008, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Office of the Biomass Program sponsored a technology roadmap workshop to stimulate the development of commercial algal biofuels. The workshop successfully brought together the interdisciplinary expertise of more than 200 scientists, engineers, research managers, industry representatives, academics, lawyers, financiers, and regulators to fully discuss the promise and challenges of a commercial algal biofuels industry. Workshop participants’ insight was captured on a range of technical challenges related to topics such as:
- Algal Biology
- Cultivation
- Harvesting/Dewatering
- Extraction/Fractionation
- Conversion to Fuels
- Co–Products
- Systems Integration
- Siting & Resources
- Regulation & Policy
In discussions throughout the workshop, industry, academic, and national lab partners suggested that to develop algal biofuels, the coordination and support of fundamental research, infrastructure development, technology deployment, and information management at a national level by DOE will be necessary. A complete workshop summary is now available at http://www.orau.gov/algae2008pro and the results of the workshop are being used to develop a technology roadmap, which is expected to be published Summer/Fall 2009.