More Information on the Soley Instute Grant Program

Soley Institute has launched a new grant program for microalgae projects to support UN Millennium Development Goals and benefits of (IIMSAM) Intergovernmental Institution for the use of Micro-algae Spirulina against Malnutrition.

This grant program is valid for 2 different subject groups.

1. Group (A) is for Spirulina projects.
   
2. Group (B) is for other microalgae projects.
   

Needs to be supported:

Grant Rate (%) for Univ. & Institutes:

• Spirulina Culture 100%
  
• Culture Media Component 70%
  
• Lab. Size Photobioreactor 60%
  
• Industrial Size Photobioreactor 70%
  
• Microalgae Duplicator 70%
  
• Organic Culture Media Component 60%
  
• Pond Circulation Pump 50%
  
• Pond Air Pump 60%
  
• Pond heating system 60%
  
• Phycocyanin Extraction System 40%
  
• Automated Microalgae Filter 50%
  
• Microalgae Drying Oven 60%
  

Grant Rate (%) for Companies:

• Spirulina Culture 80%
  
• Culture Media Component 40%
  
• Lab. Size Photobioreactor 30%
  
• Industrial Size Photobioreactor 40%
  
• Microalgae Duplicator 40%
  
• Organic Culture Media Component 20%
  
• Pond Circulation Pump 20%
  
• Pond Air Pump 20%
  
• Pond heating system 20%
  
• Phycocyanin Extraction System 10%
  
• Automated Microalgae Filter 20%
  
• Microalgae Drying Oven 30%
  

How to apply: Please, send a brief project description or business plan to info@soley.cn as an email until 28.02.2009 . (That is February 29, 2009 for those of you not usesd to the international date display)

Recommended Subjects:

• Bio-hydrogen production from microalgae
  
• Bio-methane production from microalgae
  
• Chlorophyll reduction resulting increasing solar radiation penetrate deeper
  
• Creating & Extracting highly valuable materials and pharmaceuticals from microalgae
  
• Customized microalgae modifications (genetic)
  
• Increasing oil content of microalgae
  
• Increasing photosynthetic efficiency of microalgae
  
• Microalgae based (100% Organic) Chicken feed for long shelf life
  
• Microalgae filter (Nano-Tech) system production
  
• Microalgae industrial production technologies
  
• Microalgae production with Geothermal waters
  
• Oil extraction from algae and special extraction systems
  
• Organic (100%) fertilizer production
  
• Organic (100%) microalgae productions
  
• Organic "chemical free" growth medium component production
  
• Photosynthetic energy production from microalgae
  
• Phycobiliprotein production from microalgae
  
• Phycocyanin production from Spirulina
  
• Raidoactivity treatment with Spirulina
  
• Soil treatment with Humic Substances
  
• Spirulina culture production (Fast Doubling Time)
  
• Spirulina production (contains high level phycocyanin)
  
• Spirulina production (contains high level protein)
  
• Spirulina production with brine waters
  
• Spirulina production with wastewaters
  
• Wastewater treatments with various microalgae

General Purposes:

• Grants will not be as direct. We will give the rate of grants directly to the supplier of needs.
  
• We will provide the grants for only recommended systems and equipments by us.
  
• We don't provide delivery fee as a grant.
  

Best Regards,
Soley Institute
http://www.soley.cn/institute

Soley Institute & Intergovernmental Institution for the Use of Micro-algae Spirulina Against Malnutrition

I received an email today in my Spam filter that is intrigueing. It describes a grant program being offered by the Soley Insitute for microalgae projects to support UN Millennium Development Goals and benefits of (IIMSAM) Intergovernmental Institution for the use of Micro-algae Spirulina against Malnutrition. Support is being offered to universities and other institutes as well as companies.

On investigating related websites, Soley Institute and IIMSAM appear to be real NGO entities. Anyone interested in the study of microalgae should investigate these institutions and their programs.

The Soley Institute is a non-profit research organization that is working on biotechnology, especially:

• Breeding micro-algaes,
  
• Powerful photobioreactor, 
  
• Developing high technology photobioreactors, 
  
• Biofuel from microalgaes,
  
• Increasing productivity of spirulina, 
  
• DNA of microalgaes, 
  
• Developing high productivity water medias for microalgaes, 
  
• Promoting microalgaes for malnutrition, 
  
• Promoting microalgaes for green fuel, 
  
• Biofuel

IIMSAM works to promote the use of Spirulina against severe malnutrition. It has been established through two international agreements that are recognized in the UN Treaty Series. IIMSAM maintains communication channels open with entities around the world that deal with Spirulina. These include: Antenna-Technologies, Geneva, Switzerland; IIMSAM Scientific Research Institute, France; Earthrise Farms, U.S.A.; Chinese Farms, including Lake Shanghai-the largest in the world, Peoples Republic of China; Solarium Biotechnology, Chile; Centre for Science for Villages, India; and University of Toliara, Madagascar.

IIMSAM has an International Panel of Experts that provide technological, scientific, and operational support and biological and engineering advice. These include some of the world's leading experts on Spirulina:

IIMSAM maintains communication with the following Specialized Agencies of the United Nations at the headquarters level as well as their respective Liaison Offices at UN Headquarters in New York.

Harmful algal blooms, or HABs

Harmful algal blooms, or HABs, in the new limno-lingo, represent a serious issue. When I was in lake school many years ago, we knew that certain algae could be hazardous. But these were marine algae that caused red tides or were rare events in freshwater, and then usually in cow ponds. Now HABs are front and center at many lakes.

The EPA report, Scientific Assessment of Freshwater Harmful Algal Blooms (available from EPA as a PDF) is the latest compendium of HAB science and is the techno-tell-all of what we know and what we no not know about HABs. We know for example that:

“Freshwater HAB toxins can have a broad range of negative impacts on humans, animals, and aquatic ecosystems. Many cyanobacteria can produce neurotoxic, hepatotoxic, dermatotoxic, or other bioactive compounds, and blooms of toxigenic cyanobacteria pose a particular threat if they occur in drinking water sources.”

A lot of new words and jargon that say in essence that these blooms can’t be good.

Seriously, as lake managers, we cannot ignore HABs. HABs pose threats beyond what we have traditionally dealt with as lake managers. HABs threaten water supplies, human health, and fish and wildlife.

What we don’t know or at least don’t know well includes risk assessment, analytical methods, toxicity pathways, or the appropriate response framework. The report provides an assessment and roadmap to better attend to these needs.

Of course, if we confront lakes experiencing HABs, we cannot wait for the answers to all the unknowns. We can fall back on our tried-and-true approaches to lake management - lake management basics – which ought to be relied upon to minimize and manage the impacts of HABs.

This means priority ought to be given to nutrient management. Specifically,

• Top priority for watershed protection for those lakes not yet affected by HABs
• For lakes already experiencing HABs, watershed rehabilitation may be too slow, so in addition, we should initiate in-lake nutrient reduction methods.
• In cases where nutrient reduction may not be timely or sufficient, other in-lake techniques should be used.
  

These strategies and techniques are explained fully in the textbook, Restoration and Management of Lakes and Reservoirs or the manual, Managing Lakes and Reservoirs – both available in the NALMS Bookstore (currently off-line). You may also purchase Managing Lakes and Reservoirs through Amazon.com using the Lake Stewardship Store.

Article by Dick Osgood, President of the North American Lake Management Society (NALMS), used by permission. Read the latest NALMS' newsletter online.

High Density Vertical Bioreactor for growing algae (with video)

High Density Vertical Bioreactor (with Video) - Valcent Products, Inc.

The Holy Grail in the renewable energy sector has been to create a clean, green process which uses only light, water and air to create fuel. Valcent's HDVB algae-to-biofuel technology mass produces algae, vegetable oil which is suitable for refining into a cost-effective, non-polluting biodiesel. The algae derived fuel will be an energy efficient replacement for fossil fuels and can be used in any diesel powered vehicle or machinery. In addition, 90% by weight of the algae is captured carbon dioxide, which is 'sequestered' by this process and so contributes significantly to the reduction of greenhouse gases. Valcent has commissioned the world's first commercial-scale bioreactor pilot project at its test facility in El Paso, Texas.

Click on the title for the complete story and link to a video on the process.

Algae: Another way to grow edible oils

Michael Kanellos, for News.com
Published: January 25, 2008

In the future, french fries might be infused with all the brimming, healthy flavor of oil produced by algae.

Biotechnology company Solazyme, which is developing techniques for converting vats of algae into car and plane fuel, will also exploit its manufacturing processes to make oils for other industries, including the food industry.

The company is already working on edible oils, Harrison Dillon, Solazyme's president, told CNET News.com. Ideally, these oils could provide greater health benefits, cost less, and be more environmentally friendly to grow than current cooking oils.

"We can provide tailor-made oils," Dillon said.

The ability to shift into new markets largely revolves around the nature of algae itself and the processes employed by the company. First, the creatures: algae are seriously greasy. The North Sea oil field and other large deposits are the fossilized remnants of algal blooms from hundreds of millions of years ago. They weren't formed by dinosaurs.

"These organisms have the most efficient pathways on the planet for oil production," added Jonathan Wolfson, Solazyme's CEO. "Algae are the original oil producers."

Additionally, more complex plants evolved from algae. As a result, the basic biochemistry for getting algae to produce oil remains similar to what's seen in rapeseed or soy plants. Through selective breeding and other techniques, strains of algae can be induced to generate oils with very specific properties (such as a certain fatty acid content, smoke point, or viscosity).

Algae on a sugar binge
Meanwhile, Solazyme has come up with a fermentation process that the company claims allows it to produce large amounts of biomass rapidly. The company inserts algae (typically one species) into a vat, dumps in a bunch of sugar, and then controls the pressure and other environmental factors inside the vat to induce the algae to metabolize the sugar into body oil.

Competitors such as GreenFuel Technologies or LiveFuels grow algae through photosynthesis. Solazyme claims that fermentation is much more efficient.

Click on the Title to view the complete CNET article.