ALGAL RESEARCH IN THE UK

July 2011

A Report for BBSRC by B. Schlarb-Ridley

ii

PREFACE BBSRC Statement of Intent “BBSRC wishes to understand whether and, if yes, how it should address fundamental research into the biology of algae in the context of a feedstock for energy and other related products. BBSRC recognises that the routes to these products may well be long term. This is an exploratory exercise by BBSRC – there is no commitment to follow-up funding.” Context This study takes into consideration the outcome of an algal stakeholder meeting called by DECC and facilitated through NNFCC on 12 November 20091

. Chapter 1 of this document – an overview of current and past activity on algal R&D in the UK – is a direct response to one of the key recommendations made by the report on the outcomes of the DECC meeting. The other recommendations are part of the evidence base considered for all sections of this document. Amongst others, the study also builds on findings from the following reports:

• NREL Close-Out Report “A Look Back at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Aquatic Species Program: Biodiesel from Algae” (July 1998)2

• Report by the Algal Biotechnology for Wales Knowledge Transfer Centre “A Technology Review and Roadmap for Microalgal Biotechnology in Wales” (2008)

3

• NERC Proof of Concept Study for Marine Bioenergy (2008)

4

• The Algal Industry Survey 2008 (published February 2009)

5

• FAO-Report “Algae-based Biofuels: A Review of Challenges and Opportunities for Developing Countries” (May 2009)

6

• US Department of Energy “National Algal Biofuels Technology Roadmap” (May 2010)

7

• FAO-Report “Algae-based Biofuels: Applications and Co-products” (July 2010)

8

• IEA Bioenergy Task 39 Report “Current Status and Potential for Algal Biofuels Production” (August 2010)

9

• European Science Foundation Marine Board Position Paper 15 “Marine Biotechnology: A New Vision and Strategy for Europe” (September 2010)

10

• Milken Institute Financial Innovations Lab™ Report “Turning Plants into Products – Delivering on the Potential of Industrial Biotechnology” (April 2011)

11

• Nuffield Council on Bioethics Report “Biofuels: Ethical Issues” (April 2011)

12

• AquaFUELS close-out reports (July 2011)

13

Web references throughout this report were accessed in June 2011.

1 available at www.nnfcc.co.uk/tools/assessing-the-potential-for-algae-in-the-uk 2 available at www.nrel.gov/docs/legosti/fy98/24190.pdf 3 available at www.algaektc.com/A4B Microalgal Biotechnology, Technology Review and Road Map.pdf 4 available from NERC upon request 5 available at www.ascension-publishing.com/BIZ/algal-industry-survey.pdf 6 available at www.fao.org/fileadmin/templates/aquaticbiofuels/docs/0905_FAO_Review_Paper_on_Algae-based_Biofuels.pdf 7 available at www1.eere.energy.gov/biomass/pdfs/algal_biofuels_roadmap.pdf 8 available at www.fao.org/fileadmin/templates/aquaticbiofuels/docs/1007_FAO_ABB_REPORT_2010.pdf 9 available at www.task39.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=MNJ4s1uBeEs%3d&tabid=4348&language=en-US 10 available at www.esf.org/research-areas/marine-sciences/marine-board-working-groups/marine-biotechnology.html 11 available at www.milkeninstitute.org/publications/publications.taf?function=detail&ID=38801269&cat=finlab 12 available at www.nuffieldbioethics.org/biofuels 13 will shortly become available at www.aquafuels.eu

iii

Disclaimer The report in Chapter 1 aims at establishing where in the UK algal research is being carried out, and what topics are being investigated. The information presented is based on the responses received from participants in a questionnaire, and on stakeholder engagement. The scope of the report did not allow for quality control of the stakeholder responses, and hence no qualitative judgement is made of the participants.

While care has been taken to be fully inclusive in the report, the limits of scope and time mean that there will without doubt be algal players who unintentionally have been overlooked, and information may have been misinterpreted. The author would appreciate it if she could be notified of any omissions or corrections needed, so that the correct information can be passed on to BBSRC. Definition of Algae Following the definition of RE Lee14

, the term ‘algae’ in this report is used to refer to both macro- and microalgae, with the latter including prokaryotic algae (cyanobacteria). Purple photosynthetic bacteria, which are anoxygenic, are not included.

14 Lee RE: Phycology, 2008, Cambridge University Press, p.3

iv

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This study was conducted by Beatrix Schlarb-Ridley (InCrops Enterprise Hub and Cambridge Bioenergy Initiative), with substantial input from Michele Stanley (SAMS & NERC/TSB AB-SIG) on macroalgae and questionnaire design, Saul Purton (UCL) on future opportunities for algae, and Steve Skill (PML) on UK algal industries.

The author is indebted to all algal researchers who have responded to the questionnaire on which Section 1.2 and Appendix C are based, to Suzy Stoodley for invaluable support with collating the databases, and to Matthew Ridley for proof-reading.

The draft report was reviewed by Derek Bendall, Chris Howe and Alison Smith; their helpful comments and provision of additional information are gratefully acknowledged.

A particular thank you goes to Duncan Eggar, who commissioned this study, for highly constructive interaction from conception to completion, and to colleagues who provided advice and input on specific areas of the report at various stages. These include David Baulcombe, John Day, Enid MacRobbie, Joe McDonald, Vitor Vieira and in particular Adrian Higson and Claire Smith, who under subcontract provided the majority of the market data in Chapter 3.

Images on Title Page

• Photobioreactor image (BioFence™): courtesy of Joe McDonald, Varicon Aqua Solutions Ltd • Electron micrograph (dinoflagellate Mesoporos perforates): courtesy of Ian Joint, PML • Seaweed image (Laminaria digitata in Dunstaffnage Bay): courtesy of John Day, SAMS

GLOSSARY OF ABBREVIATIONS AB-SIG NERC-TSB Algal Bioenergy Special Interest Group AD Anaerobic Digestion AFRC Agricultural and Food Research Council CCAP Culture Collection of Algae and Protozoa CER Certified Emission Reduction DoE Department of Energy EPS Extra-cellular Polysaccharide ETS European Trading Scheme FAME Fatty Acid Methyl Ester fte full time equivalent GHG Green House Gas HABS Harmful Algal Blooms HACCP Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point HRJ Hydrogenated Renewable Jet Fuel HTL Hydrothermal Liquefaction HVO Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil IP LCA

Intellectual Property Life Cycle Analysis

NOC National Oceanographic Centre PBR Photobioreactor Pers. comm. Personal communication RD&D Research, Development and Demonstration (Deployment) PML Plymouth Marine Laboratory SAMS Scottish Association for Marine Science sLoLa SWOT

strategic longer and larger grant Strengths – Weaknesses – Threats – Opportunities

TRL Technology Readiness Level USW Ultra Short Wave

v

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OVERVIEW Over recent years, algae15

have received much attention in the media on an international level, primarily as a potential source of renewable transportation fuels. They have been highlighted as a feedstock that is not tainted with the ethical dilemmas of current, food-based biofuels: they do not require arable land; need not compete for freshwater but can grow in marine, brackish or nutrient-rich waste water; and in addition can be used to scrub CO2 and NOx from flue gasses. Furthermore, growth rates tend to be considerably faster compared to land plants (doubling times as little as 8 hours), oil yields per unit area for some species are more than 20x higher than e.g. for oil seed rape (Scott et al. 2010), and as a group their tremendous metabolic diversity offers a wide spectrum of potential fuel molecules.

However, the potential of this immensely diverse group of organisms to address major global challenges extends far beyond their use as an energy feedstock. Applications for food, animal feed, materials (e.g. replacements for petrochemicals), speciality products and in bioremediation services are in several cases more advanced than fuel applications, and often do not require the same scale of production. As a consequence, they are more attractive for adoption in the UK where space is limited. Importantly, algae offer great potential for developing novel biotechnological applications, to underpin building a bio-based economy.

In the light of the global interest in algae, BBSRC commissioned this study because it wishes to understand whether it should address fundamental research into the biology of algae in the context of a feedstock for energy and other products, and if so, how.

This study is split into two parts; in Part I, it takes stock of current and past algal activity in the UK (Chapter 1), gives an overview of algal interests globally (Chapter 2), and reviews markets for algal products and services (Chapter 3).

Part II builds on this information to analyse how the UK can best capitalise on its strengths in the light of current and emerging opportunities for algal R&D, and in the context of international competition. It firstly reviews potential opportunities for algal R&D to progress in plant science and biotechnology in general, with an emphasis on underpinning food, energy and material security, and progressing biotechnology (Chapter 4). It then assesses the strengths of the UK research capability on the global algae stage (Chapter 5), and moves on to analyse gaps in algal research value chains in the UK (Chapter 6). Levels of risk, reward and importance of areas of RD&D required to promote the development of an algal economy are assessed in Chapter 7. Finally, in Chapter 8, the outcomes of this study are compared to a previous DECC report from 2009, entitled ‘Assessing the Potential for Algae in the UK’16

; progress against the recommendations of this report are considered, and further recommendations are made.

PART I: TAKING STOCK

Chapter 1 - Current and Past Algal Activity in the UK The UK has a wealth of algal experience in the academic arena as well as in industry, relevant to the use of algae both as an energy feedstock and in biotechnological and other higher value applications. Great benefits could be derived from integrating this expertise to a greater extent.

15 Following the definition of RE Lee (Phycology, 2008, Cambridge University Press, p.3), the term ‘algae’ in this report is used to refer to both macro- and microalgae, with the latter including prokaryotic algae (cyanobacteria). Purple photosynthetic bacteria, which are anoxygenic, are not included. 16 available from www.nnfcc.co.uk/tools/assessing-the-potential-for-algae-in-the-uk

vi

Algal Expertise in Academia Historic perspective (Section 1.1)

Pro- and eukaryotic algae have been – and continue to be – studied by a distinguished cohort of UK scientists. A considerable proportion of their work has led to the elucidation of key metabolic pathways and physiological functions with high relevance for both plant and animal biology, and has contributed to the foundations of algal biochemistry, molecular biology, physiology, phylogeny, taxonomy and ecology. Furthermore, the UK has a strong history of excellence in maintaining and expanding algal culture collections, and the foundations for several now globally-used algal engineering solutions were laid by UK academics. R&D on algae carried out in the UK over the last century has brought bioscience forward in general, and has laid strong foundations that both algal research and several industrial applications are now building on world-wide. Current Academic Expertise (Section 1.2)

To obtain an indicative17 profile of the current algal research community in the UK, a list of researchers was collated from discussions with stakeholders, and amplified by searching the online databases of funding bodies for grants awarded that contained relevant key words. In this way, 322 UK academics were identified as contributing to algal R&D18

. To obtain an up-to-date picture of the research expertise and interests of the identified researchers, a questionnaire was designed jointly with the Director of the NERC-TSB Algal Bioenergy Special Interest Group (AB-SIG) and sent to both the collated list and to the mailing list of the British Phycological Society. Of those who responded (170), 3/4 indicated that algae were at the core of their research interest, and the remaining 1/4 that algae were a peripheral interest. Approximately 1/3 had an interest in macroalgae, 2/3 in microalgae, with a small overlap. More researchers were interested in marine than in freshwater algae, and equal numbers pursued fundamental and applied research. Of the given list of research interests, environmental issues were chosen most frequently, followed by bioenergy, algal communities and algal productivity. Bioprospecting and cosmeceuticals had the smallest number of interested researchers.

Based on the data collated from the questionnaires, the UK has particular strength in biological and ecological research. Of the biological disciplines and research areas, photosynthesis research, molecular biology and physiology were most widespread, followed by biochemistry, taxonomy, metabolism, phytoplankton research and biotechnology. Expertise in the marine environment appears to be more widespread than in fresh water. There is also considerable expertise in the applied areas of biomass / biofuel production and chemical and process engineering.

The extensive sample of the algal research expertise provided in Chapter 1 highlights the great wealth and breadth of capability relevant to algal research which is currently present in the UK. Some initiatives already exist which bring several of the groups and institutions together (c.f. Section 1.2.3), and participants in these initiatives have commented on the immense benefit they have derived from exchange and collaboration with other groups. Overall, however, the community describes itself as disjointed, which can in part be attributed to a lack of coherence in existing funding streams and absence of strategic leadership19

. Step changes could be expected if the expertise of this community, whose excellent research overall has been limited in impact by lack of integration, were to come together to apply their experience under the umbrella of a strategic framework. This would enable the UK to capitalise on the strengths of the algal research community, to compete strongly on the global stage and to address some of the key challenges which our society faces.

17 The report does not claim to be inclusive, and makes no judgement on the quality of the research expertise collated in this chapter. 18 The methodology has clear weaknesses: Only the major funding bodies have public databases that can be searched, hence researchers funded through smaller foundations, or through industry, would not have been captured unless they were known to the group of stakeholders with whom the list was cross-checked. False positives were also observed. Despite the limitations, the results obtained with this methodology provide a useful indication of the variety of algal expertise in the UK. 19 c.f. key outcomes of DECC report (www.nnfcc.co.uk/tools/assessing-the-potential-for-algae-in-the-uk; p.3)

vii

UK Algal Industries (Section 1.3) Over the past 30 years, the UK has produced a number of highly innovative algal companies whose work has driven the algal field forward on an international level, although they have not always been commercially successful. Currently, a small number of UK companies are well established on an international stage; these are either technology providers, or service the high value spectrum of algal products from established species and strains. There are early beginnings of an algal biotechnology industry, either through biorefining (e.g. of macroalgal biomass), or by developing microalgae as a customised expression platform. Hardly any commercial activity exists in downstream processing.

Looking ahead to emerging opportunities for new industrial activities, considerable potential exists on the biological side to build on the academic expertise in e.g. synthetic biology. Industrial biotechnology solutions could and are being developed; these could then be commercialised through partnership with existing companies, or by forming university spin-outs. On the engineering side, the greatest potential for the UK currently lies in the development of integrated solutions for growth and processing, following the biorefining concept. Many academic groups and industrial technology providers exist whose expertise could be drawn on to further develop such integrated algal solutions, once feasibility had been confirmed and the sector had gained momentum. Chapter 2 – International Key Players and Major Objectives To assess its competitiveness and potential impact, the algal R&D capability in the UK needs to be put into the context of global activity on algae. International interests are developing rapidly and are in constant flux; overall the biggest players are the US (who pursue algae both from the point of view of energy security and for biotechnological solutions), and the BRIC countries. The latter are investing heavily into algal R&D and are rapidly catching up with the longer-established centres of expertise in Israel, Australia and the EU.

Nations which have a long-established history of expertise for macroalgae – chiefly in applications for food, fertiliser, alginates, and pharmaceuticals – include China, Japan, the Philippines, Korea, Indonesia, Chile, and in Europe coastal countries such as France, the UK, Norway and Portugal. For microalgae, the US20

, Australia, Israel, Japan, China, Taiwan and several EU countries have well established capabilities, again chiefly in high value applications such as nutraceuticals.

The more recent biofuels boom has had a large influence especially in the US and the BRIC countries; considerable funding has been invested there21

. A significant number of companies make unrealistic claims about productivities and profits, which threaten the credibility of the field in general. The collapse of many new companies, including the high-profile MIT-spin-out GreenFuel Technologies Corporation in 2009, has led to more caution. Internationally the recognition is growing that the pursuit of algae for bioenergy only will make successful commercialisation very difficult; the general trend is towards integrative solutions that make use of the protein fraction for food and feed, as well as the oil fraction for fuel.

There is also an increasing trend to exploit algae as an industrial biotechnology platform; international leaders in this field are the US, Israel, and the EU, although BRIC countries are catching up rapidly.

Several Algal Centres focusing on the scale-up of algal technologies have been established in the EU and internationally, providing collaborative opportunities between academia and industry. In the EU, a large number of cross-national projects are investigating a wide spectrum of algal issues, many with UK participation; these projects offer further opportunities for UK academics and industries to engage in follow-up R&D activities.

To give stakeholders up-to-date information about the rapidly evolving landscape of international algal players and interests, several bodies and initiatives have sought to collate and distribute information on algal expertise world-wide.

20 with its Aquatic Species Programme (the close-out report of which is available at www.nrel.gov/docs/legosti/fy98/24190.pdf), as well as pioneering nutraceutical companies 21 Examples of recent substantial funding support include $24 million awarded by the US Department of Energy in June 2010 to three research consortia to address the existing difficulties in the commercialisation of algal-based biofuels. Source: www1.eere.energy.gov/biomass/news_detail.html?news_id=16122

viii

These include the EU programme AquaFUELS22, the European Algal Biomass Association23, the FAO Aquatic Biofuels Working Group24, the India-based information resource Oilgae25 and the US-based Algae Industry Magazine26

.

Chapter 3 – Algal Products and Indicative Market Values Algae can be cultivated to produce a wide range of end products. The market values for these products range from £100's per tonne for energy products to £1000's per gram for very high value products. In most cases products derived from algae need to break into established markets dominated by other, often petrochemical feedstocks, and compete with well-established supply chains (e.g. for fuels and plastics). Some product groups exist (such as hydrocolloids or feed for fish hatcheries) which can only be derived from algae, or where algal products have functional advantages over alternatives; there are examples of such products that are already established on the market, and it is very probable that more will be found.

Algal products can be classified into four categories based on monetary value:

1. Base commodities (high volume, low value) 2. Added value commodities (high volume, added value over energy) 3. Speciality products (low volume, high value) 4. ‘Ceuticals’ (very low volume, very high value)

In addition, algae can be used to perform bioremediation services. Currently the only algal products on the general market are speciality products and some ‘ceuticals’. For microalgae, these include pigments, omega-3 and -6 fatty acids, vitamins and whole algae as speciality food / feed items and for cosmetics; for macroalgae they encompass speciality food / feed, fertilisers and hydrocolloids. Costs of existing products may be lowered by adopting integrated biorefining approaches, coupled where possible with bioremediation services. Base commodities such as bioenergy and bulk feed are not financially viable as yet, and production pathways for algal platform chemicals still need to be developed. At this time an area with particular development potential for the UK appears to be the exploitation of high value chemicals for cosmeceuticals and nutraceuticals markets in the context of industrial biotechnology. Other areas of significance include generating IP e.g. for liquid biofuels (to be applied internationally), replacing fishmeal in animal feed, and developing integrated growth systems with anaerobic digestion and aquaculture. Given adequate support, algae have the potential to become a substantial driver in the development of a bio-based economy in the UK.

PART II: WHAT NEXT Chapter 4 - Potential Opportunities and Benefits of Algal R&D to Progress in Plant Science and Biotechnology Evolution has led to immense diversity across all domains of life; a cornucopia that can be mined for bio-active molecules, enzymes, pathways and traits for potential biotechnological applications. In this diversity across all forms of life, both animals and land plants occupy a rather narrow phylogenetic space. Algae, however, are represented across almost the entire tree of life (Fig. E.1), and are found in any imaginable habitat – be it deserts, arctic ice, salt lakes or hot springs. Collectively they therefore provide a truly staggering richness of diversity – a resource that as yet has been little explored.

22 The final version of the AquaFUELS “Report on Main Stakeholders” is available at www.eaba-association.eu/dl_misc/indexd1.3.html 23 The EABA is in a constant process of updating and expanding the AquaFUELS list, to deliver an “EABA Who’s Who Directory of Algae Stakeholders” 24 www.fao.org/bioenergy/aquaticbiofuels/aquaticbiofuels-home/jp/ 25 www.oilgae.com 26 Free daily email updates can be subscribed to via www.algaeindustrymagazine.com

ix

Fig. E.1: Phylogenetic tree highlighting the diversity and distribution of algae (boxed groups; colours indicate the diversity of pigmentation) across the domains of life27

. For comparison animals and land plants are encircled in red and green, respectively.

If constructively supported algal R&D will contribute to solving major challenges, such as security of food, materials and energy, and benefit the progress of biological and biotechnological disciplines in general.

Algal genomes and metabolomes can be mined for useful traits28

, such as tolerance to extremes of temperature, irradiation, drought and salinity; these can be introduced into other crops. Likewise, valuable algal metabolites (e.g. omega-3 and -6 fatty acids, vitamins, antioxidants, pigments, platform chemicals, precursors for plastics, pharmaceuticals) can either be expressed in algae and/or their expression pathways introduced into other systems.

The field of artificial photosynthesis and solar fuels draws heavily on the wide design spectrum of light harvesting solutions from pro- and eukaryotic algae. It is founded on the principles of nature, and uses them as starting points for biomimetic systems. This also includes solar H2 production and CO2 reduction. Furthermore, the diversity of algal light harvesting systems is the basis for engineering improved photosynthetic organisms that will use the entire visible spectrum.

In addition, algal R&D can inform aspects of health and animal science, such as diseases caused by defective cilia, and can further progress of fundamental science especially in the field of evolution.

One of the most promising areas, however, is the development of algae as a novel platform for industrial biotechnology. This would not only address several shortcomings of existing cell-based expression systems, but importantly has the potential to become a disruptive technology for plant sciences, i.e. a step to enable synthetic biology approaches to be established and used in other plants and crops. Advantages of algal expression platforms such as Chlamydomonas reinhardtii include

• fast growth • short life cycles • ease and low cost of culturing • compatibility with high-throughput screening • high expression levels and solubility of metabolites and proteins • choice of chloroplast-based (i.e. resembling prokaryotic) or nuclear (i.e. eukaryotic) expression • potential to secrete products into the vacuole or the medium • minimal interference with inserted expression pathways.

27 adapted from http://www.keweenawalgae.mtu.edu/, with kind permission of Jason Oyadomari 28 This is already being developed commercially through a partnership between Sapphire Energy Inc. and Monsanto Company, c.f. http://monsanto.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=43&item=934, and www.nature.com/nbt/journal/v29/n6/pdf/nbt0611-473b.pdf

x

Chapter 5 – Strength of UK Capability on the Global Algae Stage As the results of the survey described in Chapter 1 have highlighted, academia in the UK has great expertise in the environmental and ecological sectors for both micro- and macroalgae, especially (but not exclusively) in the marine sector. This capability is shared by some European countries. The UK’s ecological expertise is of great value and can help to combat algal diseases and predators, and capitalise on helpful symbioses. If this capability can be integrated into budding commercial activities, both nationally and internationally, it can both save costs and contribute to preventing ecological disasters in scale-up of algal growth.

The UK’s expertise in life cycle analysis (LCA) is also of importance globally, since sound LCA is fundamental to any energy application, and highly advisable for other applications. The UK is well placed to build further capacity to satisfy growing global demand in this area (and also modelling in general, since these approaches – if supported by sound datasets – can replace expensive experiments, allow exploration of a multitude of possible scenarios and thereby accelerate progress).

The algal culture collections in the UK are internationally leading29

; other important collections exist in e.g. Japan, the US, Germany and France. Redundancy here is essential, to avoid contamination or natural disasters in one collection wiping out access to important strains.

In terms of industrial activity, the UK has contributed to major breakthroughs in applied biology and engineering, which have now been adopted by international players30

. Both academia and industry are actively involved in designing photo bio-reactors (PBRs) and integrated systems for producing algal biomass (on an international level, activity in the field of PBR design and biomass growth is particularly strong e.g. in Italy, Spain, Portugal, Germany, the US and Israel

Fundamental biology is one of the UK’s key strengths; major breakthroughs in photosynthesis research have been made in the UK, and a wealth of experience exists in taxonomy, physiology, metabolism, biochemistry and molecular biology of algae. This expertise is now increasingly being employed in a biotechnological context, with high relevance to underpinning a bio-based economy. The US, Israel and several European countries also have considerable activity in this area, and constitute serious competition to UK efforts. Nevertheless, the challenge posed by the world’s need to turn from a petroleum to a bio-based economy is of such magnitude that parallel research approaches are needed to find solutions on acceptable timescales. This represents a window of opportunity for UK expertise. The high quality of the UK research base in this area, as well as creative approaches which are characteristic for UK-based scientific excellence, add considerably to the UK’s competitiveness, and need to be fully made use of.

Chapter 6 – Algae Research Value Chains in the UK To increase the impact of algal expertise in the UK, it is important to connect together the various research elements that are needed to develop the outputs of fundamental research onwards into applications. In the UK context, it is helpful to differentiate between two overarching value chains for algal research:

1. fundamental research leading to the development of novel high tech solutions and high value products employing algae, with the end goal of building future generations of algal technology applications, and

2. further improvement and optimisation of existing applications in order to make them financially viable, more profitable and/or environmentally acceptable.

Considerable expertise exists in the UK that can contribute to both of these value chains. Both in different ways – and with input from different kinds of fundamental research – have potential to underpin the development of a bio-based economy in the UK. The first value chain requires intense, lab-based R&D (Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 1-4). This research tends to produce stand-alone end products (a patented process or physical product) which are often taken to higher TRL levels through spin-out companies from research institutes. Outputs include underpinning methods and technologies that can be patented and licensed, as well as novel products.

29 www.CCAP.ac.uk; www.mba.ac.uk/culturecollection.php; www.mba.ac.uk/culturecollection.php; complemented by www.nhm.ac.uk/research-curation/research/projects/algaevision/index.html 30The success of e.g. Martek Biosciences Corporation is based on a technology developed by the British company Celsys, now closed

xi

Bottlenecks for this value chain have included scarcity of dedicated funding support and of mechanisms by which researchers can interact with industry in a meaningful way. Such interaction would help to identify pathways of conducting world-class science; science which has outputs that are of high relevance to industry, and hence the potential to identify routes to commercialisation. Encouraging steps in this direction have been taken by the Synthetic Plant Products for Industry Network (SPPI-Net), who organised an Algal Synthetic Biology Workshop in London in March 201131

.

The second value chain is intimately connected to the scale-up of algal production and hence requires integrated multi-disciplinary work across a spectrum of science and engineering disciplines. Laboratory-based biological and biotechnological work is in most cases still essential; however, it has to be informed by the requirements imposed by the entire pipeline (since improvements in one area may introduce difficulties in another), and needs to develop integrative approaches underpinned by sound LCA and ecological assessments. Outputs are likely to be in the form of co-products and include: base commodities such as biomass for energy generation and bulk animal feed; high value products such as speciality feeds / foods, nutraceuticals and cosmeceuticals; and bioremediation services such as waste water clean-up and CO2 / NOx scrubbing.

Bottlenecks for this value chain include a lack of trained personnel with a sound grasp of algal biology, ecology and engineering (this is a global problem32

), and of solid data that can feed into modelling approaches (especially the all-important life cycle and sustainability analyses). A key gap is the provision of funding opportunities that encourage researchers to collaborate and develop synergies between their research activities. Such funding would best be delivered under the umbrella of a strategic research agenda which has been developed with the buy-in of the research community.

To address the bottlenecks in both value chains, it is recommended that BBSRC together with other Research Councils and funding bodies such as TSB, and in consultation with academia and industry, develop a joined-up strategy for algal value chains in the UK. This would need to be followed up with integrated funding33

appropriate to the various bodies involved. A strategic approach to funding will ensure that the algal research strengths, which the UK undoubtedly possesses, will be counted on the international stage, and that the benefit of this expertise will be felt in the UK directly through underpinning the development of a national bio-based economy.

Strategic funding should include a cross-council Graduate Training Programme to build capacity in graduates and post-docs with a sound understanding of the biological, engineering and environmental challenges, the integrated solutions to which are so crucial for successful commercialisation of algal technologies. Another priority area should be the establishment of a peer-reviewed, open access database for information to feed into modelling studies and life cycle and sustainability analyses. Chapter 7 – Areas of RD&D Required to Promote the Development of an Algal Economy Algae have considerable potential to contribute to a sustainable bio-based economy in the UK: through development of an industrial biotechnology platform which underpins food, energy and material security, and through integrated biorefining solutions for fuel, feed, (platform) chemicals and bioremediation services. Algae therefore have an important role to play in two of BBSRC’s Priority Areas, Industrial Biotechnology & Bioenergy, and Food Security.

To establish the full extent of these opportunities, and to turn the potential into economic reality, considerable RD&D needs to be carried out. The risks and rewards associated with different aspects of the broad spectrum of RD&D topics vary considerably, as do their importance for progress of the overall field.

Regarding RD&D that will develop algae as a platform for industrial biotechnology, highest importance and reward at this stage are attributed to:

• further development of tool kits for algal synthetic biology • expanding the evidence base that highlights the advantages of using algal systems.

31A summary of the outcomes of this meeting is available at www.sppi-net.org/downloads/AlgalSyntheticBiologyWorkshop0411.pdf. 32 Availability of trained personnel has been highlighted as the second-most critical issue for global algal industries in The Algal Industry Survey, Feb 2009 (p.7); available at www.ascension-publishing.com/BIZ/algal-industry-survey.pdf 33It needs to be stressed that strategic focus, albeit highly important, must not be to the detriment of funding algal blue skies research (which tends to produce the most innovative and ground-breaking solutions; a prominent example is Michael Faraday).

xii

Concerning RD&D that will further improve and optimise existing applications for energy, high value products and bioremediation services, highest levels of reward and importance are ascribed to:

• establishing test / pilot / demonstration sites for macro- and microalgal projects • capacity building for multidisciplinary work • achieving sustained growth of desired strains with stable desired characteristics • optimisation of growth on medium derived from AD liquid digestate.

The INTERREG initiatives BioMara and EnAlgae described in Chapter 134

will contribute to addressing these issues, but a much larger coordinated effort across the UK is needed to fulfil the potential algae have to contribute to sustainable economic growth.

In the medium and long term, the outputs of the RD&D areas described above should converge in the concept of an integrated biorefinery, where algal biomass – dedicated crops and/or residual biomass after extraction of high value compounds from industrial biotechnology approaches – would be fractionated into its useful components. Theoretically these comprise

• protein for food or feed • carbohydrates as feedstocks for biopolymers or bioalcohols • lipids for food, feed, oleochemicals or biodiesel • potentially metabolites for chemical applications.

Caveats include that only a subset of end uses will be appropriate for any given feedstock, and that all developments need to be underpinned by sound life cycle and sustainability analyses. With these in place, however, algae can be developed into a highly versatile branch of the bio-based economy. Chapter 8 – Conclusions and Recommendations The UK has a substantial biological expertise to offer in the establishment of algae as significant contributor to a bio-based economy.

At the most fundamental level the study of algae has the potential to unlock solutions to many of the most pressing long term challenges that planet earth faces in the 21st Century. As we seek answers to more immediate issues this must not be overlooked; indeed it should be actively fostered as an essential and integrated element of algal R&D as outlined below.

Short and medium term issues should be addressed both through stand-alone high tech approaches to build algae as an industrial biotechnology platform, and by developing algal products and services. These are complemented by extensive associated ecological expertise that helps to understand and model the role of algae in e.g. climate change and develop them as bio-indicators for environmental impact. Progress since 2009

This study follows on from a report35 on the outcomes of an algal stakeholder meeting called by DECC and facilitated through NNFCC on 12 November 2009. The event aimed “to establish the potential for the UK in algae and to determine how this area could progress forward”36

. While the input data to this study (collected in early 2011) is more extensive, the outcomes reported here are in general agreement with the observations made in the DECC report. In the intervening 1.5 years since the stakeholder meeting progress has been made in some areas; in many others the situation has deteriorated.

The research community still sees itself as fragmented and lacking impetus. Initiatives like BioMara, EnAlgae, the Carbon Trust ABC37 and – more informally – the SPPI-Net working group on algae38

have begun to draw together sub-groups across disciplines and universities as well as businesses, with promising initial results.

34Section 1.2.3 35 The report is available at www.nnfcc.co.uk/tools/assessing-the-potential-for-algae-in-the-uk. 36 ibid p. 7 37 c.f. Section 1.2.3; the future of the Carbon Trust ABC is uncertain, since public funding was withdrawn in March 2011

xiii

The NERC-TSB Algal Bioenergy Special Interest Group (AB-SIG) is intended to provide a “centralised point for strategy development, dissemination, information on funded projects and activity coordination”39

. However funding for the Director (0.2 FTE) and the three research fellows (together 2.5 FTE) is only secured for two years. This initiative is an excellent start, and has the potential to make a significant impact. If the momentum is to be maintained, it is essential that follow-up funding (certainly for the strategic leadership aspects of the project) is secured, and preferably at increased levels; the challenge of high-level coordination of R&D across the UK cannot be met appropriately with a 0.2 FTE appointment.

Concerning funding for wider algal research, the situation has worsened since 2009. The withdrawal of funding from the Carbon Trust ABC40

in April 2011 has been a blow not only to the 12 research teams involved, but also to the reputation of the UK internationally, since this project had been portrayed as the UK flagship for applied algal RD&D. As the 2009 DECC report stated, “A combination of lack of leadership, focus and clear policy objectives has resulted in the UK missing opportunities in algae development and it is clear the UK is now lagging behind other countries, most notably the USA”39. This gap has widened in the intervening time; it has to be recognised that it will grow to unsustainable levels unless steps are taken to mitigate the recent loss of funding and the lack of cohesion between algal researchers.

Recommendations

To develop the algal R&D field as a whole, it is recommended that BBSRC should work with the other Research Councils, the AB-SIG and stakeholders in academia and industry to assess which areas of algal research value chains the UK is best placed to develop, and thereby formulate a strategy for algal R&D in the UK. This strategy would best be realised by bringing the currently fragmented multidisciplinary algal research community together under the umbrella of a UK Virtual Centre of Excellence on Algae, with core funding being provided from across the Councils and Industry. Research would be funded e.g. through directed responsive mode grants and strategic longer and larger grants; a condition of such grants would be that the grantholder works with the Centre in the promotion of algal bioscience.

In order to pull algal R&D outputs through to commercialisation and consequently make their benefits tangible for the UK’s emerging bio-economy, a joined-up approach across the Research Councils, TSB and all relevant Government Departments is needed. The Government has recognised the importance of mechanisms that facilitate the translation of the UK’s world class research capabilities into economic benefit, and with the initiative to create Technology Innovation Centres has provided a funding mechanism to do so. The Research Councils may want to cooperate in engaging with the relevant Government Departments and TSB to create a national strategy on algae that spans research, development and deployment, and may recommend to the Government the establishment of an algal Technology Innovation Centre.

The combination of a strategically funded academic Centre of Excellence on Algae with a Technology Innovation Centre that takes step-changing research outputs through to commercial application would provide a complete and strong pipeline. Such a pipeline would guarantee high impact of UK algal research. It would provide direct benefit to the UK by both determining and realising the potential that algae have to contribute to a sustainable bio-based economy: it will in the short to medium term develop tangible solutions, and at the same time ensure that underpinning science is being put in place to address the long term challenges to mankind.

38 c.f. meeting report of SPPI-Net Algal Synthetic Biology Workshop on 24 March 2011, available at www.sppi-net.org/downloads/AlgalSyntheticBiologyWorkshop0411.pdf 39 2009 DECC Report ‘Assessing the Potential for Algae in the UK’, p. 3; available at www.nnfcc.co.uk/tools/assessing-the-potential-for-algae-in-the-uk 40 www.carbontrust.co.uk/emerging-technologies/current-focus-areas/algae-biofuels-challenge/pages/algae-biofuels-challenge.aspx

xiv

TABLE OF CONTENTS Preface .............................................................................................................................................................................. ii

BBSRC Statement of Intent ........................................................................................................................................... ii

Context .......................................................................................................................................................................... ii

Disclaimer ..................................................................................................................................................................... iii

Definition of Algae ....................................................................................................................................................... iii

Acknowledgements .......................................................................................................................................................... iv

Images on Title Page .................................................................................................................................................... iv

Glossary of Abbreviations ................................................................................................................................................ iv

Executive Summary ........................................................................................................................................................... v

1. Current and Past Algal Activity in the UK ...................................................................................................................... 1

1.1 History of Academic Algal Research Excellence in the UK ...................................................................................... 2

1.1.1 Underpinning the Progress of General Bioscience .......................................................................................... 2

1.1.2 Laying Foundations for Algal Bioscience .......................................................................................................... 2

1.2 Current Algal Academic Expertise in the UK ........................................................................................................... 4

1.2.1 Collation of Directory of Algal Researchers in the UK ...................................................................................... 4

1.2.2 Questionnaire of Algal Researchers in the UK: Analysis of Responses ............................................................ 5

1.2.2.1 Statistics of keywords on research interests ............................................................................................ 5

1.2.2.2 Spectrum of Algal Expertise at Academic Institutions in the UK .............................................................. 6

1.2.2.3 Past and Present Funders of Algal R&D in the UK .................................................................................. 10

1.2.2.4 Key Challenges and Opportunities for Algal R&D, as Seen by Participants ............................................ 11

1.2.3 Named Current Algal Initiatives and Clusters of Activity ............................................................................... 13

1.2.3.1 BioMara ................................................................................................................................................... 13

1.2.3.2 NERC-TSB Algal Bioenergy Special Interest Group .................................................................................. 14

1.2.3.3 INTERREG IVB NW Europe Strategic Initiative ‘Energetic Algae’ ............................................................ 14

1.2.3.4 Algal Biotechnology Consortium ............................................................................................................. 15

1.2.3.5 Technology Innovation Centre at CPI...................................................................................................... 16

1.2.3.6 SURF / Oasis Network at Cranfield University ........................................................................................ 16

1.2.3.7 European Bioenergy Research Institute / Aston University ................................................................... 16

1.2.3.8 Carbon Trust Algae Biofuels Challenge ................................................................................................... 17

1.2.4 Conclusions .................................................................................................................................................... 18

1.3 Past and Present Industrial Strengths on Algae in the UK .................................................................................... 19

1.3.1 Microalgae ..................................................................................................................................................... 19

1.3.1.1 History of Companies in the UK .............................................................................................................. 19

1.3.1.2 Companies Currently Operational .......................................................................................................... 21

1.3.2 Macroalgae .................................................................................................................................................... 22

1.3.2.1 History of Exploitation ............................................................................................................................ 22

1.3.2.2 Macroalgal UK Industries ........................................................................................................................ 22

xv

1.3.3 Conclusions .................................................................................................................................................... 23

1.4 Summary ............................................................................................................................................................... 24

2. International Key Players and Major Objectives ......................................................................................................... 25

2.1 High-level Overview of International Algal Interests ............................................................................................ 25

2.2 International Algal Innovation Centres ................................................................................................................. 26

2.3 Large European Projects in Algal Biotechnologies ................................................................................................ 28

2.4 Sources of Information on Algal Stakeholders Internationally ............................................................................. 29

2.5 Conclusions and Trends ........................................................................................................................................ 30

3. Algal Products and Indicative Market Values ............................................................................................................. 31

3.1 Base Commodities................................................................................................................................................. 31

3.2 Added Value Commodities.................................................................................................................................... 32

3.3 Speciality Products ................................................................................................................................................ 32

3.4 ‘Ceuticals’ .............................................................................................................................................................. 33

3.5 Bioremediation Services ....................................................................................................................................... 34

3.6 Potential for the UK .............................................................................................................................................. 34

4. Potential Opportunities and Benefits of Algal R&D to Progress in Plant Science and Biotechnology in General ...... 39

4.1 Science Underpinning Food Security .................................................................................................................... 40

4.1.1 Tolerance to Extreme Conditions................................................................................................................... 40

4.1.2 Desired Food Products ................................................................................................................................... 41

4.2 Science Underpinning Energy Security ................................................................................................................. 41

4.3 Science Underpinning Material Security ............................................................................................................... 41

4.4 Benefits for Biotechnology .................................................................................................................................... 41

4.4.1 Synthetic Biology ............................................................................................................................................ 41

4.4.2 Biomimetic Catalytic Systems ........................................................................................................................ 42

4.4.3 Algal Transformation Systems ....................................................................................................................... 42

4.4.4 Environmental Applications ........................................................................................................................... 42

4.5 Benefits for Animal Science and Health ................................................................................................................ 43

4.6 Benefits for Fundamental Science ........................................................................................................................ 43

4.6.1 Understanding Evolution ............................................................................................................................... 43

4.6.2 General Fundamental Science ....................................................................................................................... 43

4.7 Conclusions ........................................................................................................................................................... 44

5. Strengths of UK Research Capability on the Global Algae Stage ................................................................................ 45

5.1 Overview of UK Strengths and Outline SWOT Analysis ........................................................................................ 45

5.2 Overlaps with International Activity / Expertise ................................................................................................... 46

5.3 Competition between UK and International Capability ........................................................................................ 47

5.4 Knowledge Gaps filled by UK Expertise ................................................................................................................ 47

xvi

5.5 Key Contributions the UK Could Make.................................................................................................................. 48

6. Algae Research Value Chains in the UK – Analysis of Gaps and Recommended Activities ........................................ 49

6.1 Development of High Tech Solutions and High Value Products Employing Algae ............................................... 49

6.2 Further Improvement and Optimisation of Existing Applications ........................................................................ 50

6.3 Summary ............................................................................................................................................................... 51

7. Areas of RD&D Required to Promote the Development of an Algal Economy ........................................................... 52

8. Conclusions and Recommendations ........................................................................................................................... 55

8.1 DECC Algal Stakeholder Meeting in November 2009 ........................................................................................... 55

8.2 What Has Changed since 2009? ............................................................................................................................ 55

8.3 What Next? ........................................................................................................................................................... 56

8.3.1 Status Quo ...................................................................................................................................................... 56

8.3.2 Strategic BBSRC Funding ................................................................................................................................ 57

8.3.3 Cross-Council Strategic Initiative on Algae .................................................................................................... 57

8.3.4 Strategic Initiative on Algae across Research Councils and Government Departments ............................... 57

8.4 Summary ............................................................................................................................................................... 58

References for Academic Papers .................................................................................................................................... 59

Appendices ...................................................................................................................................................................... 61

Appendix A: ................................................................................................................................................................. 61

Appendix B .................................................................................................................................................................. 61

Appendix C: Tables of Results from Returned Questionnaires ................................................................................... 63

Table C.1: Compilation of Questionnaire Responses Received .................................................................................. 63

Table C.2: Overview of Questionnaire Participants Interested in Given Research Topics ......................................... 63

Table C.3: Questionnaire Responses Sorted by University / Institution ..................................................................... 64

Table C.4.1: Challenges and Opportunities for Algal Research Given by Participants on a Timescale of 5 Years ...... 74

Table C.4.2: Challenges and Opportunities for Algal Research Given by Participants on a Timescale of 10 Years .... 80

Table C.4.3: Challenges and Opportunities for Algal Research Given by Participants on a Timescale of 25 Years .... 84

Appendix D – Detailed Algae Research Value Chains in the UK ..................................................................................... 88

D.1 Base commodities................................................................................................................................................. 88

D.1.1 Microalgae ..................................................................................................................................................... 88

D.1.2 Macroalgae .................................................................................................................................................... 89

D.2 Added value commodities .................................................................................................................................... 90

D.3 High value products .............................................................................................................................................. 90

D.4 Bioremediation services ....................................................................................................................................... 91

D.5 Benefits of Integration .......................................................................................................................................... 91

PART I TAKING STOCK – ALGAL ACTIVITY IN THE UK & ELSEWHERE, AND RELEVANT MARKETS BBSRC commissioned this study because it wishes to understand whether it should address fundamental research into the biology of algae41

in the context of a feedstock for energy and other products, and if so, how. To facilitate this, the study in Part I takes stock of current and past algal activity in the UK (Chapter 1), then gives an overview of algal interests globally (Chapter 2), and finally reviews markets for algal products and services (Chapter 3). Part II will build on this information to analyse how the UK can best capitalise on its strengths in the light of current and emerging opportunities for algal R&D, and in the context of international competition.

With 23 pages, Chapter 1 makes up 40% of the entire report; an indication of the wealth of algae-related expertise in the UK. Those for whom a detailed picture of past and present algal expertise in the UK is not of interest, may find it helpful to read the overview of Chapter 1 in the executive summary, and move from there to the chapters that are of highest relevance to their interests. Chapters are designed to be to a certain extent self-contained42

.

1. CURRENT AND PAST ALGAL ACTIVITY IN THE UK Over recent years, algae41 have received much attention in the media on an international level, primarily as a potential source of renewable transportation fuels. They have been highlighted as a feedstock that is not tainted with the ethical dilemmas of current, food-based biofuels: they do not require arable land; need not compete for freshwater but can grow in marine, brackish or nutrient-rich waste water; and in addition can be used to scrub CO2 and NOx from flue gasses. Furthermore, growth rates tend to be considerably faster compared to land plants (doubling times as little as 8 hours), oil yields per unit area for some species are more than 20x higher than e.g. for oil seed rape (Scott et al. 2010), and as a group their tremendous metabolic diversity offers a wide spectrum of potential fuel molecules. However, the potential of this immensely diverse group of organisms to address major global challenges extends far beyond their use as an energy feedstock. Applications for food, animal feed, materials (e.g. replacements for petrochemicals), speciality products and in bioremediation services are in several cases more advanced than fuel applications, and often do not require the same scale of production. As a consequence, they are more attractive for adoption in the UK where space is limited. Importantly, algae offer great potential for developing novel biotechnological applications, to underpin building a bio-based economy in the UK. Be it for use as energy feedstock or in biotechnological and other higher value applications, the UK has a treasure of relevant algal experience both in the academic arena, and in industry; great benefits could be derived from integrating this expertise to a larger extent. This chapter gives an overview of the breadth of expertise, and provides underpinning databases of algal research capability in the UK. It looks both at the history of academic and industrial expertise in the UK, and reviews current activity43

. Information on the history of academic algal research (Section 1.1), and on past and current industrial activity (Section 1.3), has been collated from numerous conversations with stakeholders in the field, whose time and input is gratefully acknowledged. The overview of current academic expertise (Section 1.2) is based on responses to a questionnaire sent to algal grant holders and members of the British Phycological Society.

41 Following the definition of RE Lee (Phycology, 2008, Cambridge University Press, p.3), the term ‘algae’ in this report is used to refer to both macro- and microalgae, with the latter including prokaryotic algae (cyanobacteria). Purple photosynthetic bacteria, which are anoxygenic, are not included. 42 This leads to a certain level of repetition; those who read the report in its entirety are kindly asked to be tolerant of that fact. 43 The report aims at giving representative examples of the spectrum of algal expertise, but – due to the limit in scope and available time – cannot claim to be exhaustive. In particular, the scope did not allow for quality control of the stakeholder responses, and hence no qualitative judgement is made of the participants.

2

1.1 History of Academic Algal Research Excellence in the UK 1.1.1 Underpinning the Progress of General Bioscience

Pro- and eukaryotic algae have been – and continue to be – studied by a distinguished cohort of UK scientists. A considerable proportion of the work has led to the elucidation of key metabolic pathways and physiological functions with high relevance for plant and animal biology. Prominent examples include:

• Nitrogen fixation: The mechanisms of this important metabolic pathway have been studied using cyanobacteria by e.g. GE Fogg FRS (Bangor) since the late 1950s (Fogg and Tun 1958) and William DP Stewart FRS (Dundee) since the early 1960s (Stewart 1962)44

.

• Ion transport: In the 1960s and 70s giant algal cells were used as a model organisms for ground-breaking work elucidating protoplasmic streaming and ion transport physiology by e.g. the group of Enid AC MacRobbie FRS (Cambridge) (Macrobbie EAC 1969).

• Cell development: Major progress on understanding the mechanisms of Ca2+ signalling and cell development using Fucus serratus has been made by Colin Brownlee and co-workers (Plymouth MBA) since the 1980s (Brownlee 1986).

• Photo protection: Major contributions to the understanding of photo protection through carotenoid production have been made by Andrew J Young (Liverpool John Moores); this work now also underpins commercial astaxanthin production internationally (Young 1991).

• Structure and function of the photosynthetic apparatus: Cyanobacteria and microalgae have been used for many years as molecular-genetic systems for elucidating the structure and function of the electron-transfer complexes involved in light-capture and energy transduction, and as source material for structural studies of these complexes (e.g. the determination of the electron transfer pathway in Photosystem I by Mike Evans and colleagues at UCL (Nugent 2003), and the crystal structure of Photosystem II by So Iwata and Jim Barber at Imperial College (Iwata and Barber 2004)).

1.1.2 Laying Foundations for Algal Bioscience

Many UK researchers have contributed to the foundations of algal biochemistry, physiology, phylogeny, taxonomy and ecology, often with high relevance to plant science more generally. The expertise of those who are still in post is described under ‘Current algal academic expertise in the UK’ (Section 1.2). Many pioneers have now retired; a non-exhaustive list that indicates the wide spectrum of their contribution to the progress of algal bioscience is displayed in Table 1.1:

44 The latter is also an example of a brilliant phycologist who then moved on to gain national political influence, first as Head of AFRC, and then as Chief Scientific Advisor to the Thatcher Government (1990-95).

3

Table 1.1: Examples of now-retired UK pioneers in algal biology who have contributed to the foundations of algal biochemistry, physiology, phylogeny, taxonomy and ecology, often with high relevance to plant science more generally (ordered chronologically by early publications) Research area Researcher Organisation Early

publications Ecological, taxonomic, classificatory, morphological and evolutionary aspects of phycology

Felix E Fritsch Queen Mary, University of London (Founding Father of Freshwater Biological Association)

Fritsch 1903

Seasonal cycles, eutrophication, long term changes, culture studies (notably bioassay), whole or part lake experiments and taxonomy of algae

John WG Lund FRS

University of Sheffield, later Freshwater Biological Association

Lund 1942

First electron micrographs of algae Irene Manton Leeds Manton and Clarke 1950

Algal photosynthesis CP Whittingham

Cambridge and Queen Mary

Whittingham 1952

Diatom ecology and taxonomy Frank E Round Bristol Round 1953 Mapping of seaweed in Scotland FT Walker Institute of Scottish

Seaweed Research Walker 1954

Algal cell walls Donald H Northcote FRS

Cambridge Northcote et al. 1958

The ecology of algae and cyanobacteria Brian A Whitton

Durham Whitton 1965

Gas vesicles and buoyancy; cyanobacterial heterocycsts Tony (AE) Walsby, Peter Fay

London (Westfield) / Bristol

Fay and Walsby 1966

Algal photosynthesis John Raven Dundee Raven 1967 Dinoflagellates Barry

Leadbeater Birmingham Leadbeater

and Dodge 1967

Metabolism and molecular biology of cyanobacteria NG Carr Liverpool and Warwick Hood and Carr 1969

Fundamental physiology, photosynthesis , eco-physiology John F (Jack) Talling

Freshwater Biological Association

Talling 1970

Biofouling Len V Evans, AO Christie

Leeds Evans and Christie 1970

Evolution of photosynthesis; metallo-proteins; bioenergy; PBRs

David O Hall, KK Rao

King’s College London Hall et al. 1971; Rao et al. 1971

Carbon metabolism A J Smith Aberystwyth Smith 1973 Cyanobacterial toxins GA Codd Dundee Codd and

Stewart 1973 Photosynthetic electron transfer Mike Evans,

Jonathan Nugent

University College London

Evans et al. 1976; Nugent et al. 1981

Cyanobacteria: cell division, gliding motility, cellular differentiation and plant symbiosis

Dave Adams Liverpool and Leeds Adams and Carr 1981

Algal lipids John R Sargent Stirling Sargent et al. 1985

4

Algal culture collections The UK also has a strong history of excellence in maintaining and expanding algal culture collections. Ernst G Pringsheim brought his collection from Prague to England, where he worked with Eric A George in Cambridge from the 1940s onwards on a resource that has become the Culture Collection of Algae and Protozoa45, which is one of the key global algal culture collections. Another important culture collection is held at the Marine Biological Association in Plymouth46. These are complemented by the databases of AlgaeVision at the Natural History Museum47

.

Engineering solutions for algae Foundations for several now globally-used algal engineering solutions were laid by UK academics. Examples include

• The integration of photobioreactors with anaerobic digestion, established in 1983 by Steve Skill, Lancaster University, as a consequence of BBSRC funded research.

• The first tubular photobioreactors, designed by Prof. John Pirt, Queen Elizabeth College, London in 1986 – now a very common design used for high value algal products.

• A method of fuelling diesel engines with powdered microalgae, developed by Dr Paul Jenkins of the University of the West of England in collaboration with Biotechna Ltd48

• Early wall photobioreactors (Biofence) were adapted from the Biocoil design (Biotechna Ltd) by Dr Paul Jenkins of the University of the West of England in 1995

.

49

. The Biofence mantle has since been taken up by a succession of companies including Applied Photosynthetics Ltd, Biosynthesis Ltd, CellPharm Ltd, Biofence Ltd and latterly Varicon Aqua Ltd.

The examples from recent history given above highlight how R&D on algae carried out in the UK in the last century has brought bioscience forward in general, and has laid strong foundations which both algal research and several industrial applications are now building on world-wide. 1.2 Current Algal Academic Expertise in the UK 1.2.1 Collation of Directory of Algal Researchers in the UK To obtain an indicative50 profile of the current algal research community in the UK, a list of researchers was collated from discussions with stakeholders, and amplified by searching the online databases of funding bodies for grants awarded that contained relevant key words51

45

. The final list, ordered by university affiliation, and containing the relevant grant information for those entries derived from funders’ databases, is displayed in Appendix A. In this way, 322 UK academics were identified as contributing to algal R&D in the UK. The methodology has clear weaknesses: only the major funding bodies have public databases that can be searched, hence researchers funded through smaller foundations, or through industry, would not have been captured unless they were known to the group of stakeholders with whom the list was

www.CCAP.ac.uk; now held at the Scottish Association for Marine Science 46 www.mba.ac.uk/culturecollection.php 47 www.nhm.ac.uk/research-curation/research/projects/algaevision/index.html 48 The prototype system consisting of a modified Perkins diesel CHP unit coupled with a Biocoil PBR was later featured on BBC Tomorrows World. 49 Dr Paul Jenkins continued to develop the Biofence at UWE but tragically, he was fatally injured in a road traffic accident, ironically on the same day he had been informed of a successful application for government funding to develop his Biofence (pers. comm., Steve Skill). 50 The report does not claim to be inclusive, and makes no judgement on the quality of the research expertise collated in this chapter. The scope of the report did not include quality control of the stakeholder responses received. 51 Online databases of the following funding bodies were searched for grants awarded that contained the term *alga* or cyanobacteri* (*=wildcard) or seaweed*: BBSRC, EPSRC, NERC, ESRC, UKERC, TSB, Leverhulme Trust, EU (Cordis). The Royal Society and The Gatsby Foundation were approached for the same information; the former was at the time unable to disclose such information due to data protection issues, the latter had no records of grants on algae. The final list was cross-checked with the Director of the NERC-TSB Algal Bioenergy Special Interest Group (AB-SIG) and several other stakeholders.

5

cross-checked. False positives were also obtained52. Despite these limitations, the results gained with this methodology provide a useful indication of the variety of algal expertise in the UK, and – in response to the recommendations of the 2009 DECC-report on algae53 – could be used as a starting point for establishing centralised access to information on funded projects and research activities54

.

1.2.2 Questionnaire of Algal Researchers in the UK: Analysis of Responses To obtain an up-to-date picture of the research expertise and interests of the identified researchers, a questionnaire (designed jointly with the Director of the NERC-TSB Algal Bioenergy Special Interest Group (AB-SIG)) was circulated amongst identified algal researchers. Both questionnaire and cover letter can be viewed in Appendix B. The questionnaire asked the researchers to describe their spectrum of expertise in free text, and to indicate if algae were at the core or periphery of their research interests. Participants were also invited to choose from a list of given keywords those which matched their research interests, highlighting those which constituted a primary interest, and to add interests that were not included in the given list. This information is made available in Appendix C (Table C.1). Further information, which was used in an anonymised form for the analysis in the sections below and is not part of Table C.1, was also requested; this included the participants’ views on the key challenges and opportunities for algal research in the next 5 / 10 / 25 years, and their past and present funders of algal research. The questionnaire was emailed to a final list of 322 UK academics, and also forwarded to the mailing list of the British Phycological Society (460 members). 186 replies were received; of those 129 indicated algae were at the core of their research interest, for 41 algae were a peripheral interest, and 16 responded they were not sufficiently involved with algal R&D to participate in the survey. The latter may partially have been due to the emphasis given to life sciences and engineering topics in the questionnaire design, which did not resonate e.g. with academics who deal with algae as part of geological research. Any future surveys may also want to address this group of experts. 1.2.2.1 Statistics of keywords on research interests As indicated above, the questionnaire asked participants to tick from a list of keywords any that matched their research interests, and to indicate which constituted a primary research interest. Table 1.2 displays this information, including a compilation of further research interests which participants added under the heading ‘Other’. An expanded version for each keyword, which names the universities and their staff members who have indicated this topic to be a primary research interest, can be found in Appendix C (Table C.2). Of those who responded, 1/3 had an interest in macroalgae, 2/3 in microalgae, with a small overlap. A larger number of researchers was interested in marine than in freshwater algae, and equal numbers pursued fundamental and applied research. Of the other keywords, environmental issues were ticked most frequently, followed by bioenergy, algal communities and algal productivity. Bioprospecting and cosmeceuticals had the smallest number of interested researchers. The many further topics that were provided by participants under the keyword ‘Other’ (see final row of Table 1.2) emphasise the diversity of interests and research expertise related to algae in the UK. Most frequently mentioned were: genomics (x4), biodiversity (x3), biomass processing (x3), (chemical) ecology (x3), pathogens (x3) and viruses (x3).

52Several researchers indicated that, although they had been in receipt of a grant that contained one of the relevant keywords mentioned in Footnote 6, algae were too peripheral to their research interest for them to participate in the questionnaire. 53Report on algal stakeholder meeting called by DECC and facilitated through NNFCC on 12 November 2009 (http://www.nnfcc.co.uk/tools/assessing-the-potential-for-algae-in-the-uk); p.3 54 The list of stakeholders has been assembled in collaboration with the Director of the NERC-TSB Algal Bioenergy Special Interest Group (AB-SIG), and will feed into that initiative.

6

Table 1.2: Summary of questionnaire responses: Number of researchers interested in each keyword, and subset for whom this is a primary research interest. Keyword Number of UK researchers involved Subset: primary research interest

Macroalgae 55 15 Microalgae 127 33 Marine 101 21 Freshwater 80 8 Applied research 98 14 Fundamental Research 98 19 Environmental issues 73 14 Bioenergy 66 16 Algal communities 63 10 Algal productivity 62 8 Photosynthesis 48 9 Carbon capture 43 5 Food/feed 38 5

Waste water treatment 32 5 Bioremediation 30 5 Nutraceuticals 27 2 Platform chemicals 24 4 Integrated industrial growth 24 3 Photobioreactor design 23 4 Pharmaceuticals 22 1 Aquaculture 21 5 Biofouling 20 3 Synthetic biology 18 1 Bioprospecting 16 0 Cosmeceuticals 14 1 Other: algae/seaweed fly interactions, algal interface, bacteria-algae cross talk, beached wrack ecosystems, behaviour, being able to generate sterile cultures of macroalgae to allow accurate sequencing of transcriptomes and genomes, benthic C cycling, biodiversity (x3), biofilms, biofuels, biogeochemistry, biogeography, biological oceanography, biomass processing (x3), calcification, cavitation for cell destruction, cell biology, (chemical) ecology (x3), chloroplast (x2), climate change (x2), cloud formation and coastal regional climate, coastal particle formation, conservation, development, diseases, drinking water supply, ecological impacts of surf raking, economic impact & analysis (x2), (eco)toxicology (x6), EPS production, eutrophication control, evolution (x2), fertilizer recycling, financial viability, gene control of development, genomics (x4), HABS, HTL, human health, impact of large algal fields on atmospheric chemistry (e.g. emissions of halocarbons), impact of microalgal biopolymer exudate on the formation and properties of primary marine aerosol and their climate impacts, invasive species, lichenized algae, life support systems, macroalgal emissions of iodine and impact on gaseous photochemistry, metabolomics, microbial fuel cells, modelling, monitoring, motility, nature conservation, nutrition, ocean acidification, palaeobiology, pathogens (x3), phenotypic plasticity, phylogenetics, polysaccharides (x2), predator-prey interaction, reproductive biology, scaling up, soil crusts, speciation, taxonomy, temporal & spatial distribution, trace gases (x2), USW cell filtration, viruses (x3)

1.2.2.2 Spectrum of Algal Expertise at Academic Institutions in the UK The questionnaire asked participants to describe their spectrum of expertise. Table 1.3 gives an overview of the responses received, sorted by University / Institute in alphabetical order. Again, the rich diversity of research expertise in the UK is evident. An analysis of key strengths emerging from the responses follows at the end of this section, and is discussed in an international context in Chapter 5. Since the questionnaire was forwarded to the mailing list of the British Phycological Society, responses were also received from outside the University arena; those entries are given under the name of the respective institution. An extended table that (where applicable) breaks the responses down by university departments and also indicates past and present funding bodies can be found in Appendix C (Table C.3). It is important to stress that the scope of the report did not allow for quality control of the stakeholder responses, and hence no qualitative judgement is made of the indicated expertise.

7

Table 1.3: Algae-related research expertise at research institutions in the UK, as given by respondents to questionnaire

University / Institute

Spectrum of expertise

Aberdeen bioactive natural products from marine organisms; deep time algal ecology ; algal culture; isotope enrichment; fatty acid analysis; fate of algal material in marine ecosystems; oomycete-algae interactions

Aston chemical engineering applied to bioenergy and biofuels; bioenergy, intermediate pyrolysis, gasification, biochar, algae

Bangor biology, physics and economics large scale algal biomass/biofuels production

Bath electrochemistry, solar energy conversion, materials chemistry, photo-microbial fuel cells

Birmingham algal bioadhesion and biofouling; plant development and evolution; environmental toxicology; improved light delivery and photobioreactors

Bournemouth microalgal culture, physiological assessment, flow cytometry, metabolic stains

Bristol algal photosynthesis; impact of pesticides on biofilms; distribution patterns of macro and microalgae; UK expert diatom taxonomy; use of algae to assess ecological status; freshwater polar algal ecology; Polar microbiology, biogeochemistry, aquatic microbial ecology

Cambridge molecular biology, biochemistry and evolution of biosynthetic pathways and photosynthesis in plants and algae, bioenergy; functional genomics tools (RNAi); algal-bacterial symbiosis; freshwater ecology, bioremediation; process engineering, carbon capture; biological physics, fluid dynamics, nonlinear dynamics; artificial photosynthesis, solar fuels; algal biophotovoltaics; molecular genetics of algae; eukaryotic flagellar dynamics and synchronization; colloidal physics; biological chemistry, microdroplets, microfluidics; engineering/chemical engineering and reactors; evolutionary paleobiology

Cardiff productivity, photophysiology, coastal erosion and biostability; lipid biochemistry and molecular biology

Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science

flow cytometry, phytoplankton, productivity/biomass, North Sea

Centre for Ecology and Hydrology

phytoplankton, physiology and ecology

Countryside Council for Wales

marine macroalgal field studies, ecology, communities

Coventry environmental control, extraction of lipids and chemical components, enhanced growth

Cranfield microbiology, biocatalysis; large scale production of biofuels, bioprocessing technology & innovation; outdoor offshore microalgae mass cultivation for biofuel production systems: productivity modelling and engineering; algae growth, harvesting and processing systems; environmental microbiology, biological processes

Department for Communities and Local Government

freshwater diatom ecophysiology, taxonomy, morphology with interest in using diatoms as bio-indicators and possibility of using algae as food & fuel source

Dundee biophysics, biochemistry, physiology, ecology, evolution, environmental change; hydrogen and hydrogenases; molecular biology

Durham cell biology of metals; lipid metabolism, DNA array, photosynthesis, enzymology, cyanobacteria gene regulation and transformation

East Anglia functional genomics and reverse genetics, evolution, photosynthesis, lipids, cell division, growth, metatranscriptomics; microalgae: physiology, biochemistry, ecology; biological oceanography, some work on seaweeds; specialist interests in role of algae in global biogeochemical cycles; production of trace gases of atmospheric and climatic significance by marine micro- and macroalgae

Edinburgh experimental evolution in microalgae, microbial ecology in high CO2 environments; chemistry of the polysaccharides of charophytes in relation to early land plant phylogeny

Environmental Research Institute

intertidal ecology, impacts of renewable energy on benthic environments

Essex photosynthetic energy conversion, microalgal culturing, environmental stress (light and temperature), nutrient requirements and limitation, algal proteomics, resource allocation strategies (optimality modelling), phytoplankton ecology; ecophysiology of marine algae, production of trace gases; physiology and photosynthesis (phytoplankton, corals), chlorophyll a fluorescence, marine nutrient cycling and environmental change; photosynthesis, carbon allocation and production of extracellular products

8

University / Institute

Spectrum of expertise (continued)

Exeter lipid metabolism, primary carbon and nitrogen metabolism, antioxidant systems and reactive oxygen species

Glasgow synthesis of bioactive marine natural products; behaviour of swimming algae (e.g. gravitaxis, gyrotaxis, phototaxis); bioconvection (flows induced by suspensions of biased swimming cells); flow fields around individual swimming cells; effect of environmental stress on behaviour; biofuel production (lipids and hydrogen); intracellular dynamics; mathematical modelling; physics based experiments; reconstructing climate using coralline algae; marine biogeochemical cycling

Greenwich bioremediation, integration of algal growth with AD

Imperial water and wastewater treatment technologies; molecular biology and biochemistry of cyanobacteria, algae and chloroplasts with emphasis on photosynthesis and biofuels; environmental and economic assessment of algal biofuel systems; Life Cycle Analysis

Kings College London

natural products, molecular biology, bioinformatics

Lancaster Environment Centre

molecular ecology, taxonomy, molecular markers, harmful algae

Leeds algae-based wastewater treatment in middle- and low-income countries; benthic geochemistry and ecology; biofuels and biorefinery, hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL), microwave processing, pyrolysis, upgrading of fuels, characterisation of fuels, nutrient recycling, combustion, emission behaviour; plant cell walls, polysaccharides

Liverpool fluid dynamics; motility of micro-organisms

Liverpool John Moores University

algal and nutrient relationships, algal ecology

Loughborough diatom ecology and palaeoecology, biogeochemistry of silica, limnology

Manchester atmospheric science, marine boundary layer chemistry, photochemistry, aerosol processes, aerosol-cloud interactions; metal accumulation and remediation, calcium signalling; molecular genetics; fermentation process development, biorefinery engineering; ultrasound standing wave cell filtration, concentration and destruction

Marine Biological Association

algal cell biology, phytoplankton molecular biology, algal development and signalling; isolation and culturing of marine microalgae; molecular biology, virology

Natural History Museum

ecology and diversity of cyanobacteria, phylogenetics; algal physiology, algal culturing, gene expression; algal systematics, phylogenetics, genomics and conservation; evolution, genomics, phylogenetics, gene transfer, endosymbiosis

Newcastle chemical engineering, intensification of downstream processes; algae chemical signalling; chemical manipulation; growth and lipid production; bioactive metabolites; biogas; anaerobic digestion; harvesting and dewatering; offshore production; seaweed fibre rheology and human gut function; algal functional groups, intertidal macroalgal ecology, plant-animal interactions, algal defence mechanisms, release of CDOM by macroalgae

Nottingham bacterial cell-cell signalling, quorum sensing, cross-talk; chlorophyll and carotenoid pigments, palaeolimnology, aquatic ecology; lichen ecology, nitrogen fixation in cyanobacterial lichens

Oxford isotopic fractionation in the calcareous nanoplankton; isotope geochemistry of algal biominerals and organic components; algal remains as tracers of past climate change; ecological and biogeochemical response to environmental change; chloroplast development; evolution of land plants; carbon acquisition by marine algae, geochemistry of calcite and silica produced by algae, Rubisco kinetics and CCM function, paleoclimate

Plymouth macroalgal ecology, carbon sequestration, ocean acidification e.g. biophysics of photosynthesis; solar conversion efficiency

Plymouth Marine Laboratory

molecular biology, protein chemistry, drug discovery; marine environmental research, phytoplankton, algal, pigments, biotechnology; algal biochemistry and biotechnology; algal biochemistry and biotechnology; optics, photosynthesis, primary production, phytoplankton biology, remote sensing; algal molecular biology; algal virology; biofuel production; algae, algal viruses, bioprocessing, biocatalysis

Portsmouth biogeochemistry, algae-nutrient interactions; molecular ecology; population biology/genetics; marine ‘aliens’

Queen Mary London cell biology, biophysics, regulation of photosynthesis, biogenesis and turnover

Queen's Belfast algal systematics, life histories, some applications; physiological ecology of marine algae; applications and aquaculture of seaweeds; economic exploitation of macroalgae; water movement and macroalgal growth

9

University / Institute

Spectrum of expertise (continued)

Reading gut fermentation, health benefits of phytochemicals

Rothamsted Research

lipid metabolism & metabolic engineering

Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh

biology of microalgae, especially diatom systematics and evolution; desmids- ecology, community ecology, taxonomy and climatic distribution, with a habitat focus on scottish blank mires

Scottish Association for Marine Science

biological resources, algal biofuels, algal biotechnology, protistan cryopreservation, protozoan & algal culturing; algal diseases and pathogens, algal functional and environmental genomics; oomycete-algae interactions; biological resources, algal biofuels, algal biotechnology

Scottish Environment Protection Agency

taxonomy and ecology; monitoring of macroalgae for regulatory agency, including development of monitoring tools

Scottish Crop Research Institute

phytochemsitry of seaweeds related to health benefits

Sheffield photosynthesis and primary metabolism in diatoms; metabolic engineering; synthetic biology; systems biology; proteomics; bioreactor design, transport processes; enzymology, membrane assembly, spectroscopy; algal growth, physiology, biotechnology

Southampton (including National Oceanography Centre)

molecular biology of chloroplast development; photobiology; tetrapyrroles; algal biofuel, photosynthesis in marine systems, structure/evolution of photosynthetic enzymes; algal bloom control, marine taxonomy

St Andrews fisheries; bioactive products; microalgal defence; bioinformatics, genomics, phylogeny; diatoms, coastal ecology, biodiversity and ecosystem function; coastal ecology and sediment dynamics

Stirling evolutionary ecology, conservation biology; underwater optics, remote sensing, cyanobacteria

Strathclyde regional economic-energy-environment modelling

Surrey modelling and optimisation

Swansea algal growth and nutrition (experimental and modelling); plankton predator-prey and hence biosecurity issues etc. (experimental and modelling); microalgal biomass production (esp PBRs); algal bioremediation; algal use in aquaculture; photo-bioreactor design; downstream processing of algal biomass; algal biotechnology and physiology; biochemical engineering, membrane filtration; bio-processing – microalgal harvesting, disruption & fractionation; microalgal physiology

Ulster diatoms, lake processes & production

University College London

diatoms; ecology and palaeoecology; shallow lake and pond palaeolimnology, limnology; palaeoecology, diatoms, wetlands, lakes; algal biotechnology, genetic engineering, orgenelle biology, photosynthesis

Warwick molecular ecology of marine picocyanobacteria and photosynthetic picoeukaryotes; niche adaptation mechanisms in marine picocyanobacteria; picocyanobacterial genomics and molecular biology; metal homeostasis in cyanobacteria and other organisms, in particular zinc; bio-analytical chemistry including elemental analysis and mass spectrometry; environmental microbiology, methylotrophy, trace gas metabolism

West of England microbiology, microbial fuel cells, microbial volatiles, robotics; molecular biology, biochemistry

Westminster microalgal life cycles; dinoflagellates; taxonomy (traditional and molecular); isolation and culturing

York atmospheric chemistry, halogen chemistry, ocean-atmosphere interactions, macroalgal volatile emissions; mass spectrometry, separations, natural products, arsenic metabolism, algal polysaccharides; microwave pyrolysis, nanoparticles, mesoporous materials, polysaccharides, heterogeneous catalysis

Analysis of expertise Based on the outcome of the questionnaires, the UK has clear strength in ecological research – the key word ‘ecology’ was mentioned by 26 institutions as part of their expertise, ‘environmental’ by 11 institutions. Biological expertise was similarly prevalent (‘biology’ mentioned by 20 institutions). Of the biological disciplines and research areas, photosynthesis research, molecular biology and physiology were most widespread, followed by biochemistry, taxonomy, metabolism, phytoplankton research and biotechnology.

10

Expertise in the marine environment appears to be more widespread than in fresh water (mentioned by 13 versus 3 institutions, respectively; indeed the decline of freshwater science in the UK was highlighted by several contributors, c.f. Section 1.2.2.4 and Appendix C, Tables C.4.1/2/3). There is also considerable expertise in the more applied areas of biomass / biofuel production and chemical and process engineering (mentioned by 7 and 6 institutions, respectively). An overall assessment of how this wealth and diversity of expertise may be brought together to capitalise on its strengths, and to address key challenges our society faces, is given in Section 1.2.4. 1.2.2.3 Past and Present Funders of Algal R&D in the UK BBSRC, who commissioned this report, was also interested in an overview of the funding landscape for algal research; in order to determine this, the questionnaire asked participants to indicate past and present funding sources. The responses can be viewed in Appendix C, Table C.3; key statistics derived from the data are summarised below (Fig. 1.1). Fig. 1.1: Comparison of how many times key funding bodies were mentioned in participants’ contributions (based on data in Appendix C, Table C.3). It is not indicative of the amount of funding provided.

Of past and present funders, NERC plays the most significant role in the responses received (mentioned 109 times in Table C.3), followed by EU/EC funding (mentioned 58 times). BBSRC comes next, followed by EPSRC (mentioned 44 vs 33 times). Significant funding is also provided by the Royal Society (mentioned 23 times), the Carbon Trust (pre-funding cuts; mentioned 20 times) and the Leverhulme Trust (mentioned 14 times). Only a few groups have reported funding from ERC, TSB and ESRC (mentioned 6, 5 and 1 times respectively). Industry plays a significant role in the funding landscape. Based on the questionnaire results, the number of algal researchers receiving funding from NERC, the Royal Society, TSB and ESRC has decreased, whereas the pool of those receiving funding from the EU/EC, EPSRC, Carbon Trust (pre funding cuts) and ERC has increased. No change was seen in the number of algal researchers receiving funding from BBSRC and the Leverhulme Trust. However, it needs to be stressed that this is based on the responses of 185 researchers only, and no indication on the amount of funding in each case is given, hence this is a poor indicator of levels of, and commitment to, funding for algal research. The impact of the funding landscape, and in particular of the apparent lack of coherence and overall strategy on algae across the spectrum of funders, has been commented on in the 2009 DECC report55

, and is discussed further in Section 1.2.4.

55 c.f. key outcomes of DECC report (http://www.nnfcc.co.uk/tools/assessing-the-potential-for-algae-in-the-uk; p.3)

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Past

Present

umbe

r of

tim

es m

enti

oned

11

1.2.2.4 Key Challenges and Opportunities for Algal R&D, as Seen by Participants When asked in the questionnaire where they saw the key challenges and opportunities for algal research in the next 5 / 10 / 25 years, participants provided a large body of data which is given in Appendix C (Tables C.4.1, C.4.2 and C.4.3, respectively). A pictorial representation of the frequency with which key words were mentioned was obtained by feeding the collated responses, after deleting the terms alga / algae / algal, into the online resource www.wordle.net – see Figs 1.2 and 1.3 below. Size of the depicted words is correlated to the frequency with which they were mentioned; choice of colours and colour-depth are arbitrary. The largest number of responses was received for the 5 year timescale (137), fewer for the 10 year timescale (110) and fewest for the 25 year timescale (80). The answers provided have also been fed into the SWOT analysis in Chapter 5 (Table 5.1), and into the overview of RD&D needed to develop algal products and services (Chapter 7; Table 7.1). Fig. 1.2: Wordle depiction of challenges for algal research given by participants on a timescale of 5 (top), 10 (middle) and 25 (bottom) years

12

Fig. 1.3: Wordle depiction of opportunities for algal research given by participants on a timescale of 5 (top), 10 (middle) and 25 (bottom) years

13

Analysis of Challenges

On the 5 year timescale, the most widely recognised56

challenges included increasing understanding15x of algae through research17x, and addressing energy issues ((bio)fuel(s)18x, (bio)energy7x). Funding17x was seen as a major issue, followed by addressing environmental / climate change12x, efficiency and scale-up of production12x, and working in a systems11x context (model / growth / environmental systems and systems biology).

Moving to the 10 year timescale, the energy sector was seen as the primary challenge ((bio)fuel(s)12x, (bio)energy6x), followed by the effects of climate8x change, and developing efficient production8x systems. Maintaining, expanding, integrating and applying the knowledge5x base were still seen as challenging, as were developing both systems and synthetic biology6x.

Finally, on the 25 year timescale, the energy sector had firmly moved into 1st position ((bio)fuel(s)15x, (bio)energy6x), followed by issues surrounding scale-up of production9x for industrial use, climate and environmental change7x, and management5x of resources, wastes and processes.

Analysis of Opportunities

The opportunities given for the 5-year timescale to some extent mirrored the priorities of the challenges: novel research outputs17x and increased understanding9x were seen as key opportunities, linked in with the development7x or discovery of new12x models, strains, tools, technologies, networks, bioactives and products. Again the energy sector was rated highly ((bio)fuel(s)18x, energy7x), as was solving issues around production14x.

On the 10 year timescale, production10x at scale11x had become the most recognised opportunity, and followed by the energy sector ((bio)fuel(s)11x, (bio)energy9x). In terms of research, marine, synthetic, molecular, systems and ecosystem biology6x was given a high profile, so was the development of new products7x, strains5x and technologies5x.

In analogy to the challenges, on the 25 year timescale again the energy sector scored highest ((bio)fuel(s)10x, energy5x), followed by production9x of chemical, food, feed, energy and bespoke products in a biorefining context and at scale6x. Synthetic biology6x, and integration4x of production with other processes were also highlighted as areas of great potential at this timescale. In summary, on a short timescale the importance of increasing fundamental understanding through research was highlighted; lack of funding, and of qualified personnel, was seen as a major threat. Production was a key issue throughout, with the need for progression from the current RD&D stage through the different levels of scale-up to full industrial scale. Likewise, mitigation of the effects of climate change, and addressing the energy challenge, played a major role throughout, and were given increased relative importance with increasing timescale. In parallel to the development of efficient and integrated production systems for low and high value products in the medium and long term, participants emphasised the opportunities created by advancing research outputs, such as systems biology / omics, and synthetic biology. 1.2.3 Named Current Algal Initiatives and Clusters of Activity In addition to the expertise of individual universities, as summarised in Section 1.2.2.2 and Table 1.3, clusters of activity have also formed across universities and in interaction with industry. A non-exhaustive overview is given below; centres of algal activity (such as e.g. PML, SAMS, NOC and others) that are mentioned as part of one of the collaborative projects are not listed again separately.57

1.2.3.1 BioMara (www.biomara.org) The Sustainable Fuels from Marine Biomass project (BioMara) is a UK and Irish joint project under INTERREG IVA that aims to demonstrate the feasibility and viability of producing third generation biofuels from marine biomass. It commenced in

56 based on an analysis of the number of contributions mentioning each key word, given as superscripts to the key word 57 The scope of the report did not allow for quality control of the information provided on the quoted websites, and hence no qualitative judgement is made of the indicated expertise.

14

2009 and will run to 2012. Its research investigates macro- and microalgae for their potential to provide sustainable fuel, and studies the environmental, social and economic impacts of using marine biofuel.

The project is funded by the European Union (INTERREG IVA), the Governments of the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland and Scotland, the Crown Estates and the Highlands & Islands Enterprise. Participants and their research areas are:

• Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS) at the Scottish Marine Institute (www.sams.ac.uk; Lead Partner): Analysis of microalgal strains (screening of microalgae cultures, development of gene probes for monitoring oil production, analysis of oil content, optimising growth conditions, macroalgal cultivation, environmental impacts of using storm caste seaweed for biofuel production, Anaerobic Digestion, bioethanol production)

• The Centre for Renewable Energy at Dundalk Institute of Technology (CREDIT), Ireland (ww2.dkit.ie/research/research_centres/credit): Biomass for Anaerobic Digestion and bioethanol production (Anaerobic Digestion (AD), bioethanol production)

• Fraser of Allander Institute, University of Strathclyde, Scotland (www.strath.ac.uk/fraser/): Economic, social and techno-economic impacts of the generation of biofuel from marine algae (microeconomic cost-benefit analysis, macroeconomic impacts of the development of a mari-fuels industry in Scotland and the North of Ireland, techno-economic evaluation of systems and options)

• Centre for Sustainable Technologies and Nanotechnology and Integrated Biotechnology Centre, University of Ulster, Northern Ireland (www.nibec.ulster.ac.uk; www.cst.ulster.ac.uk/): Involved in economic, social and techno-economic impacts; expertise also in pyrolysis of biomass to produce gas and oil, extraction of useful chemicals from biomass

• Institute of Technology, Sligo, Ireland (www.itsligo.ie): Involved in biomass for Anaerobic Digestion and bioethanol production

• The Questor Centre, The Queen’s University Belfast, Northern Ireland (http://questor.qub.ac.uk/): Development of downstream processing (expertise in steam processing and reforming of hydrocarbons for bioenergy from marine algae)

1.2.3.2 NERC-TSB Algal Bioenergy Special Interest Group (www.nerc.ac.uk/research/programmes/algal/) The Algal Bioenergy Special Interest Group (AB-SIG) is a network set up in 2010 to bring together academic research and industry to pool knowledge on algal products, processes and services, including, but not limited to, bioenergy products. The AB-SIG is supported but the Natural Environment Research Council and the Technology Strategy Board, and facilitated by the Biosciences KTN. It has funding for two years, and is overseen by a part-time Director (Dr Michele Stanley, SAMS), two research fellows (one on macro- and microalgae each) and a part-time knowledge exchange fellow. 1.2.3.3 INTERREG IVB NW Europe Strategic Initiative ‘Energetic Algae’ (EnAlgae; website to be announced shortly) This initiative, funded from 2011 for 4.5 years, comprises 19 partners from the UK (7), Belgium (5), Germany (3), Ireland (2), The Netherlands (1), and France (1), and is led by the UK (Swansea University). Energetic Algae aims to reduce CO2 emissions and dependency on unsustainable energy sources in NW Europe, by accelerating the development of sustainable technologies for algal biomass production, bioenergy and greenhouse gas mitigation from pilot phase to application and marketable products, processes and services. This is achieved by bundling know-how, finance and political support together. The project comprises three Work Packages:

WP1: To maximise the transnational value of pilot scale algal culture facilities across NW Europe, by creating an integrated Network that incorporates an up-to-date inventory of current and planned pilots. Representative pilots collect and share data and best practices in a standardised manner, and provide demonstrations to diverse project partners, observers and stakeholders.

WP2: To identify the political, economic, social and technological opportunities to exploit algal biomass within the context of NW Europe, delivering much needed information for policy makers, industry and investors on which algal production systems, standards and end use markets are applicable in the region.

WP3: To combine information across the algal bioenergy delivery chain into an ICT tool that can guide decisions, identify gaps in knowledge and capability and provide a roadmap to help stakeholders focus future actions in NW Europe.

UK partners in EnAlgae are: • Swansea University, Centre for Sustainable Aquaculture Research (CSAR) (Lead Partner) • National Non-Food Crop Centre, York Science Park

15

• Birmingham City University, Centre for Low Carbon Research • InCrops Enterprise Hub, at the University of East Anglia, with subpartners Cambridge University, BioGroup

Ltd, British Sugar • Plymouth Marine Laboratory • Scottish Association for Marine Science • Queen’s University Belfast

Several scale-up facilities that are part of this initiative are, or will be, located in the UK: • The InCrops Enterprise Hub (www.incropsproject.co.uk) is working towards an Algal Innovation Centre to

collaborate with interested industries on implementing algal technologies across the entire value spectrum. • The Nottingham Algal Biorefinery Facility (NABF) is an existing commercial microalgal production and

biorefinery facility that is being co-developed by PML with industrial partner Boots. It will be a benchmark in the EnAlgae Project. The facility employs a proprietary 32,000 L closed photobioreactor to propagate microalgae utilising waste CO2 flue gas emissions directly from a gas fired power station. Microalgal strains have been selected for development potential within the pharmaceutical, health care and cosmetics market. The primary focus of the installation is on use of the lowest energy systems to cultivate, harvest and extract a range of petroleum replacement products from the proprietary microalgal strains.58

• EnAlgae lead partner Swansea will upgrade its “series of proprietary tubular photobioreactors (PBRs) devoted to applied research on integrated technologies for microalgae production and effluent remediation (aqueous effluents, industrial flue gases). This infrastructure comprises 2 x 600 L PBRs located in a climate controlled greenhouse (with supplemental external lighting) adjacent to a large aquaculture research facility, plus 1 x 400 L volume PBR located in a fully controlled environment laboratory. These PBRs are integrated with extensive laboratory and pilot scale bio-processing equipment, which will contribute key information to stakeholders on nutrient recycling for microalgal production, and dewatering and downstream processing of microalgal biomass.”

59

• Expansion and upgrading of existing micro- and macroalgal growth facilities will also be carried out at Queen’s University Marine Laboratory, including “installation and maintenance of new longlines in Strangford Lough […]. The Lough is one of only three Marine Nature Reserves in the UK and is strongly tidal. […] (The upgrade) will provide equipment that will monitor and model how hydrodynamic factors affect marine macroalgal cultivation […] (and) enable the extension and improvement of the closed microalgal photobioreactor […]. Bioreactor capacity will be doubled and heterotrophic facilities added to allow and optimize the culturing of microalgal strains native to NW Europe.”59

The expanded facility will “incorporate a new proprietary columnar PBR system, designed to operate using recycled nutrients from anaerobic digestion, thereby levering EnAlgae’s capacity to address environmental sustainability issues surrounding algal bioenergy.”59

1.2.3.4 Algal Biotechnology Consortium (www.bioenergy.cam.ac.uk/abc.html) The Algal Biotechnology Consortium (formerly Algal Bioenergy Consortium) is an informal, multidisciplinary group of scientists with a range of public and industrial funders who aim to use algae60

for a number of different applications in the biotechnology and bioenergy industries. This consortium brings together molecular biologists, physiologists, chemists, engineers and chemical engineers to facilitate the integrated development of future algae-based solutions in collaboration with industry.

The work falls into the following main topics:

1. The development of tools in algal molecular and synthetic biology for accumulation of desired products 2. The production of algal biomass, including sequestration of CO2 from flue gases, and treatment of wastewater 3. Use of microalgae for the production of bio-photovoltaic panels 4. Photosynthetic and biomimetic hydrogen production and CO2 reduction

The consortium is also actively involved in increasing both energy awareness and public understanding of the opportunities and challenges biotechnology and bioenergy provide.

58 pers. comm. Carole Llewellyn and Steve Skill 59 source: EnAlgae Project Proposal; used with permission of authors 60 including cyanobacteria

16

Participating institutions are: • Cambridge University (topics 1, 2, 3, 4) • Rothamsted Research (topic 1) • University College London (topics 1, 2)

1.2.3.5 Technology Innovation Centre at CPI (www.uk-cpi.com) The Centre for Process Innovation (CPI) has been working on the development of processes using algae since 2006 with practical work starting in 2009. CPI is working to tackle some of the major issues in the production of algal biomass that have hampered widespread commercial uptake such as: reactor design, growth conditions and integrated process technology from pre-treatment to extraction.

CPI is leading or is a major partner in a number of projects to develop algae-based products as well as use algae in carbon capture and storage. Recent projects have included co-firing of algal biomass to replace fossil fuel, the use of algae in carbon capture from large scale industrial processes, converting algae to biofuels and algae growing for medical applications. These projects are in collaboration with major industry players such a Tata Steel, Arup and Cemex.

CPI has invested in a range of open access facilities for the growth and processing of algae based products. These include a dedicated algae laboratory, which has facilities for growing and processing microalgae under controlled conditions. In addition to being fully equipped with all essential equipment for a microbiology lab, CPI also has airlift and stirred photo-bioreactors that are supplied with CO2, air and nitrogen, as well as floor-standing illuminated growth cabinets with controllable temperature and lighting. In addition CPI is designing and trialling a number of novel reactors.

In addition to the above, CPI also has a range of scale-up facilities for a wide spectrum of industrial biotechnology processes up to 10,000 L. These are available to organisations that are developing algae based products and processes. CPI has a public/ private asset based innovation role to support the industrial commercialization of process technology by supplying assets, market knowledge and technology development that provide an integrated approach to the commercial realisation of what is a complex technology.61

1.2.3.6 SURF / Oasis Network at Cranfield University (www.cranfield.ac.uk/soe/departments/ope/oena/page48488.html; www.oasisnetwork.co.uk) Cranfield University announced an algal biofuels project for aviation in September 2010, which it is developing in collaboration with an aviation consortium. The project is called “Sustainable Use of Renewable Fuels” (SURF) and is based on Cranfield’s “Sea Green” algae biofuels process. The project is planning to commence producing commercial quantities of biofuel for test purposes by 2013.

SURF will address five major considerations for the successful use of renewable fuels from microalgae: environmental impact; processing capacity and distribution; commercial; legislation and regulation. Specific studies will look at future sustainability modelling and environmental lifecycle assessment. Cranfield has operated a pilot plant producing experimental quantities of aviation fuel since 2007. The eventual objective is to demonstrate scalability of the “Sea Green” process both on coastal land and on in-shore ocean facilities.

Cranfield has also been commissioned by the EU to run the Oasis Network, an initiative to develop a supply chain in the East of England for the processes and equipment used to extract bio-fuel from marine microalgae.

1.2.3.7 European Bioenergy Research Institute / Aston University (www.aston-berg.co.uk)62

The Bioenergy Research Group at Aston University is a founder member of the European Bioenergy Research Institute (EBRI). EBRI carries out research on growing algae in bioreactors and also on the conversion of the biomass using pyrolysis techniques. Flue-gas CO2 is captured and used in the algae cultivation as part of the “Aston zero waste bioenergy cycle”.

61 text kindly provided by Graham Hillier, CPI 62 adapted from a presentation by Juan Matthews, UKTI R&D Specialist , November 2010

17

1.2.3.8 Carbon Trust Algae Biofuels Challenge (www.carbontrust.co.uk/emerging-technologies/current-focus-areas/Algae-biofuels-challenge/Pages/algae-biofuels-challenge.aspx) The future of this project is uncertain, since public funding was withdrawn in March 2011. It is nevertheless included in considerable detail because of the spectrum of UK algal expertise it demonstrates. The Carbon Trust is a publicly supported charitable organisation that works with industry to advance low carbon technologies; one of its aims is establishing algal biofuel production for aviation and road transport by 2020. The Algae Biofuels Challenge was set up to be a £18M project with 11 university partners to tackle a number of key problems on the path to the introduction of algal biofuels. Between 2008 and 2011 over £3m were invested, to assess the opportunity, set up the initiative, run a competition (to select the best 12 research teams from over 80 applications to meet the technical objectives), secure licenses to all intellectual property, and conduct the first year of research in Phase 1 (from January 2010 to March 2011). The 12 research teams involved in Phase 1 comprised 74 research scientists from 11 UK research institutions (25 full time equivalents). The 12 teams were supported by a Technology Advisory Panel comprised of four leading international experts in microalgae biofuels (Dr John Benemann, Prof. Ami Ben-Amotz, Prof. Mario Tredici, Dr Ausilio Bauen). The programme was set up to provide those research teams which achieve their goals in the laboratory with the opportunity to test their conclusions at a demonstration facility which was to be developed under Phase two. The original sources of public funding for this work ceased at the end of March 2011, leaving the employed contract research staff in a vulnerable position, and damaging the UK’s international reputation, since the ABC had been promoted as the UK’s flagship programme on algal bioenergy R&D. The Carbon Trust is currently seeking alternative sources of funding to continue the work, which through encouraging collaboration of previously unconnected experts had already begun to yield promising results. Overview of research areas covered, and research centres involved:

• The isolation and development of novel marine micro-algal strains for biofuel production (PML) • Improvement of solar conversion efficiency in marine microalgae (Southampton) • Screening and random mutagenesis to isolate improved algal strains for lipid production in mass culture (QMUL) • Nutrient optimisation for high lipid yield and productivity (Manchester) • Characterization of lipid-overproducing algae isolated using environmental stress and development of high

throughput screening methods (Sheffield) • System requirements for low-cost energy-efficient algal biomass cultivation for biofuel production (Southampton) • Application of chemical communication principles to sustained mass algal culture (Newcastle) • Control of protozoan grazers (SAMS) • Ultrasonic extraction of biofuel precursors from single cell algae (Manchester) • R&D into cost effective techniques for the extraction of oils/valuable co-products from algae using ultrasound and

ionic liquids (Coventry) • Water-tolerant extraction of algal biofuels (Newcastle) • Algal biomass production and processing: modelling, optimisation and economic and life cycle analyses (Swansea,

Bangor, PML) Further details on participants and their projects:

• University of Sheffield Bioenergy Research Group (www.shef.ac.uk/energy/bioenergy.html): The project uses environmental stress to choose the correct strain of microalgae with high lipid production. The main criterion is the overproduction of neutral lipids. After initial screening, mass spectrometry is used to detect lipids with greater precision. The aim is to develop a set of experimental techniques that will allow the identification of suitable algal strains. The Process Fluidics Research Group at Sheffield is also a prize winning centre for the development of bioreactors for growing algae.

• Queen Mary’s Photosynthesis Research Group (http://queenmaryphotosynthesis.org/solar_bioenergy.html): The project uses "forced evolution" to adapt marine algae for intensive cultivation, and to improve their production of biofuel precursors. A fluorescence imaging technique identifies strains with photosynthetic properties likely to lead to improved growth and biofuel production under the conditions required.

• Newcastle University (www.ncl.ac.uk/business/casestudies/biofuels.htm; two projects): The first project is to develop a chemical toolbox to manipulate and regulate open pond cultures. By harnessing the alga’s own communication systems we endeavour to exert a gentle, yet decisive influence on the growth and community patterns with open ponds. The strategy is to work with nature, not against it. The second project involves evaluating the water-tolerance of three different conversion technologies with a view to achieving significantly

18

more cost-effective algal biofuel production. This is achieved by removing process steps, and by reducing the energy requirements.

• The Sonochemistry Centre at Coventry University (http://wwwm.coventry.ac.uk/researchnet/Sonochemistry): The Centre has a long history of R&D in the use of ultrasound to control algal blooms, and has acquired knowledge of the effects of ultrasound on algal cells. Based on this expertise, the Centre’s research endeavours to find the correct combination of ultrasonic conditions and solvents in order to obtain oil from algae.

• Swansea University’s Centre for Sustainable Aquaculture Research (CSAR) and Centre for Complex Fluids Processing (CCFP), in collaboration with Bangor University (www.swansea.ac.uk/research/centresandinstitutes/ CentreforSustainableAquacultureResearch/): The project uses modelling to define the operational envelope for the economic production of biofuels from microalgae. A combination of physical, biological and economic modelling enables a cost-benefit analysis taking into account reactor specification and location, algal ecophysiology, engineering costs of harvesting, dewatering and cell cracking, and nutrient recycling.

• The University of Manchester (www.energy.manchester.ac.uk/newsandevents/algaebiofuels/; two projects): The first project assesses algal culture conditions that give maximal cellular lipid content whilst maintaining a high cell density. Metabolic and gene expression profiling of the algae are used to understand the molecular mechanisms of lipid induction. The second project looks at ultrasonic techniques to disrupt the algal cells walls to enable the extraction of oils.

• The School of Ocean and Earth Science (SOES) at University of Southampton (www.southampton.ac.uk/soes/): The project is developing cost-effective innovative low-energy methods for carbon enrichment. The efficiency of these is matched to the demand for carbon in open channels at different flow depths and velocities. Carbon demand and conversion efficiency are assessed in laboratory-scale rigs and pilot-scale raceways simulating different surface areas and retention times.

• The National Oceanographic Centre (NOC), located at the Universities of Liverpool and Southampton (http://noc.ac.uk/): The project addresses the efficiency of photosynthetic conversion, which limits the commercial productivity of algal biofuels. A team of NOC scientists with expertise in studying algae in nature are applying novel technologies in the selection and manipulation of algae that maximise photosynthetic efficiency.

• Plymouth Marine Laboratory (PML; www.pml.ac.uk): The project aims to screen thousands of new algal strains by using a combination of traditional and state-of-the-art methods to identify and isolate novel lipid-accumulating algae for the production of biodiesel.

• The Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS; www.sams.ac.uk): The project “Control of Grazers” aims to develop robust methodologies for the early detection of protozoan “infection” of algal mass-cultures. In addition, management strategies are developed to prevent or reduce damage caused by protozoan grazing.

1.2.4 Conclusions The overview presented in Section 1.2 represents but a sample of the entire algal UK research expertise, provided chiefly by the 170 researchers who submitted their responses to the questionnaire. This sample alone already highlights the great wealth and breadth of capability relevant to algal research that is currently resident in the UK. Some initiatives already exist which bring several of the groups and institutions together (c.f. Section 1.2.3), and participants in these initiatives have commented on the benefit they have derived from exchange and collaboration with other groups, including the generation of patentable ideas in the very first meeting of one such cross-group initiative (pers. comm.; source confidential). Overall, however, the community describes itself as disjointed, which can in part be attributed to a lack of coherence in existing funding streams and absence of strategic leadership63

. Step changes could be expected if the expertise of this community, whose excellent research overall has been limited in impact by lack of integration, were to come together to apply their experience under the umbrella of a strategic framework. This would enable the UK to capitalise on the strengths of the algal research community, to compete strongly on the global stage and to address some of the key challenges which our society faces. Aspects of how algal research may contribute to solving challenges such as food, energy and material security are discussed in Chapter 4.

63 c.f. key outcomes of DECC report, p.3 (available at www.nnfcc.co.uk/tools/assessing-the-potential-for-algae-in-the-uk)

19

1.3 Past and Present Industrial Strengths on Algae in the UK The advancement of knowledge through research undertaken at academic institutions is complemented by the development of expertise and processes in industry. Involvement of industrial stakeholders in research proposals is increasingly encouraged by Research Councils through Industrial Partnership Awards, LINK-type projects and Industry Clubs64

such as IBTI and BRIC, since this increases the potential for wider impact of the research outputs. TSB and various EU initiatives also offer funding opportunities for collaborative R&D between academia and industry. It is therefore highly relevant to review the industrial landscape for algae in the UK. This section will look at micro- and macroalgal industries separately, since both their history and the relevant challenges are largely distinct, and will conclude with a discussion of industrial trends and emerging opportunities. Again, despite care to be inclusive the information provided is unlikely to be comprehensive, and the scope did not allow for quality control of information provided by stakeholders or on companies’ web pages. The author would appreciate being informed of omissions or necessary amendments.

1.3.1 Microalgae The UK has been the birthplace of several microalgal biotechnologies through knowledge transfer from lab to business. Innovative and quality-driven technologies for a wide range of microalgae have been developed through the years with the emergence of new business. This section first reviews the history of microalgal companies in the UK, and then gives an overview of currently active companies. 1.3.1.1 History of Companies in the UK Some of the early companies active in the field have gone out of business, but were pioneers and clearly ahead of their time. Their closure was mostly due to reduced market focus and lack of experience in production at pilot level. Some examples are given below (adapted from Vieira, 201065

, with pers. comm. from Steve Skill, John Day and Joe McDonald):

In the 1980s Cell Systems Ltd

(Trade name: Celsys) (Cambridge, closed 1991 - was the first ‘non Chlorella’ microalgae fermentation company with production of Tetraselmis, amongst others, for spray-dried aquaculture feed. The company developed the applied research and solutions that contributed to the current success of Martek in the US and Protos Biotech (Nutrinova) in Germany, resulting in the commercial production of DHA from microalgae. The company was 10 years ahead of the R&D field, but few of their results were published. Some of the expertise has stayed in the UK, e.g. former employee Dr John Day is now Head of the Culture Collection for Algae and Protozoa (CCAP) at the Scottish Association for Marine Science.

In 1983 Blue Green Biotech (Nottinghamshire, closed 1986) was established as a cooperative, inspired by a BBSRC funded research project of Steve Skill’s to isolate heterocyst specific gene sequences from blue green algae. It constructed a 1000 L closed artificially illuminated photobioreactor (PBR) integrated with a 10,000 L anaerobic digester to provide heat, power, nutrients and CO2 for Spirulina66

cultivation. The harvested biomass was dried and formulated into pills as a nutritional supplement. Whilst the venture was not entirely a commercial success, valuable experience was gained from the project.

As an extension to his work at Queen Elizabeth / King’s College, London, Professor John Pirt established Photobioreactors Ltd

in 1986 and patented a novel tubular PBR design. A pilot plant was constructed at Reading University Research Farm and in the late 1980's, investment had been secured to construct two PBR production sites in Spain. Initially, a pilot plant was constructed in Santomera but not long after, a full scale commercial plant was commissioned in 1990 at Santa Anna near Cartagena. The PBR consisted of 200,000 metres of polyethylene tubing but following a major algal culture crash in 1991, the plant was closed. The company was dissolved in 1993. Inadequate management, insufficient culture circulation, biofouling and contamination were the main causes of the failure. The tubular design with improved operational procedures is now widely used on a global scale.

In 1987, Lee Robinson (ex Chairman of the Warren Spring Laboratory) and Angus Morrison patented the Biocoil PBR and established Biotechna Ltd 64

(London) to licence the IP and develop cutting-edge microalgae biotechnologies. Biotechna

www.bbsrc.ac.uk/business/collaborative-research/industry-clubs/industry-clubs-index.aspx 65‘Feasibility study for the development of an algal innovation centre in the East of England’ June 2010; report for the InCrops Project (www.incropsproject.co.uk). Non-confidential sections can be made available on request. 66 Spirulina has been re-named Arthrospira; due to the still widespread use of the term Spirulina internationally especially when referring to the nutraceutical product this report has not adopted the new nomenclature.

20

initially constructed pilot Biocoil plants in Luton (for Spirulina67 production) and Livingstone (for wastewater treatment using Chlorella). In 1990, the company developed a 5000 L Biocoil PBR installation at Severn Trent's Stoke Bardolph sewage treatment plant under Steve Skill’s leadership, demonstrating the use of flocculating consortia of microalgae for wastewater treatment68

i. Dr Paul Jenkins of the University of the West of England to jointly develop the concept of an Algal Power Station by coupling Biocoil PBR algal biomass production on sewage, with direct combustion of the harvested biomass in a modified Perkins diesel combined heat and power unit

. A pilot plant coupling thermophilic AD of poultry manure with a Biocoil-based digested liquor treatment by photosynthetic anaerobes, followed by a Chlorella/Scenedesmus consortium for nutrient polishing, was established near Cork in Ireland. Biotechna also collaborated with

69

ii. the marketing company

Green Cycle Ltd

iii. the Olin Corporation (US) to apply Biocoil PBR technology to mitigate agricultural discharges which were causing devastating Pfeisteria infestations in North Carolina water bodies

(High Wycombe, founded in 1993, closed in 1996) on the installation of a two-stage pilot Biocoil PBR facility in Portugal to produce natural Beta Carotene from Dunaliella

iv. Prof. Bill Oswald (Berkeley), aimed at reducing the land area requirement of microalgae based Advanced Integrated Ponding System for sewage treatment.

In 1994, Biotechna Ltd went public on the Alberta Stock Exchange raising $5.5m (Canadian). In 1997, the company was taken over by a US concern and in 1998 the US leadership terminated all UK operations (and innovation).

Dr Paul Jenkins continued his work at UWE and incorporated the Biocoil’s main features into the Biofence PBR. Following the untimely death of Dr Jenkins, Manchester University’s Campus Ventures Ltd continued working on the Biofence PBR and in 1996 a spin-out company Applied Photosynthetics Ltd (APL)

was formed to market Biofence technology, managed by Dr Jonathan Mortimer. APL constructed a multiple array of Biofences for wastewater treatment at the Earth Centre near Doncaster in 1997, although not long after the facility went bankrupt.

After Dr Mortimer left APL, he formed a number of Biofence marketing companies based in Wales including; Biofence Ltd (closed 2001), Biosynthesis Ltd (closed 2002), and CellPharm Ltd

(closed 2007). In 2003, the Biofence rights were acquired by Varicon Aqua Ltd, who continue to market the system today as research photobioreactors and in aquaculture as live feed production systems.

In 1990 the PBL Group

of companies (Reading, founded in March 1986, now closed) scaled up the first biofence tubular photobioreactor, currently used by several aquaculture hatcheries and research applications. This system inspired the large scale photobioreactor of Algatechnologies (Israel) and several others in Europe and around the world.

In 1999 Sherwood Forest Tilapia

was established by Steve Skill, an intensive Tilapia farm with 100% water recycling provided by a unique microalgal biofilm system. Since then, the microalgal biofilm process has been further developed as a low cost method to convert sewage in to biofuel and fertiliser.

Seasalter Continuous Algal Production Systems

(SeaCAPS; Kent, founded 2000, closed 2010) have developed an innovative approach to economical Continuous Algal Production Systems. Technological advances developed over the past three decades with these systems along with customized hatchery designs have been installed at both fish and shellfish farms in 15 countries. The parent company Seasalter Shellfish (Whitstable) Ltd (Kent, founded in 1986), under whose umbrella the development of the Algal Production Systems started, are still operational; however, the company’s involvement in algal production is being phased out.

Oxford Algaetech

, founded in March 2009 as a research and development organisation addressing bioenergy, pigments and pharmaceutical applications of algae, closed in Oct 2010.

Some British phycological expertise has moved abroad, and has benefited algal industries internationally. Examples include J Michael Armstrong, who headed Thallia Phamaceuticals - a company investigating pharmacologically active products from algae, with pilot scale facilities in France. The company folded in 1999 due to conflicts of interest amongst the shareholders; its Technical Director Dr Tony Hall then set up AquaArtis, a company focusing on cultivating and screening fractionated extracts from microalgae and cyanobacteria for new pharmaceutical and nutraceutical products such as zeaxanthin. The company folded in 2004 due to lack of investment70

.

67Spirulina has been re-named Arthrospira; due to the still widespread use of the term Spirulina internationally especially when referring to the nutraceutical product this report has not adopted the new nomenclature. 68 featured in National Geographic, March 1994 69 featured on BBC Tomorrow’s World 1993, c.f. www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7N8uBV1byE 70 pers. comm. John Day, Olivier Lépine and Tony Hall

21

1.3.1.2 Companies Currently Operational All Seasons Health (Hampshire, founded 1994), sell Spirulina71

and Chlorella as nutraceuticals, including certified organic products. The algal biomass is currently grown by high quality producers abroad, Spirulina in Tamil Nadu, Southern India, and Chlorella in Taiwan. The company is interested in sourcing feedstocks from the UK, should biomass that is certified by the Soil Association as organic become available at competitive prices.

Varicon Aqua Solutions Ltd (VAS)

(Malvern, founded 2004) is a well-established technology provider in the Algae PBR sector, working with academia (e.g. Birmingham City and Aston Universities) and industry to develop and improve know-how in the algae biomass sector. Their patented BioFence™ PBRs are operational across the globe in fish hatcheries, universities, cosmetic producers, nutraceutical production facilities, power utilities researching carbon abatement and plant science groups developing optimised algal strains for the emerging algae bio-fuels market.

PML Applications Ltd

(the commercial arm of Plymouth Marine Laboratories, founded 2001) collaborates amongst others with Boots on growing algae for cosmeceutical and nutraceutical applications, and employ proprietary photobioreactor solutions under licence from Steve Skill.

Downstream processing of microalgae is addressed e.g. by the engineering company Pursuit Dynamics plc

(Cambs; founded 2001); they apply their fluid processing technology to extraction of lipids from algal biomass. The company is collaborating with Wageningen University and is building links with Cambridge University.

A different approach to exploiting microalgae is being taken by H+Energy Ltd

, a spin-out of Cambridge University (founded 2006): they investigate the use of cyanobacteria and eukaryotic microalgae as solar energy collectors in BioPhotoVoltaic Cells, and are now part of Ortus Energy Ltd. The company R&D is embedded in Cambridge University; collaboration also exists with Bath University.

Scottish Bioenergy Ltd

(founded 2007) is developing algal bioreactors that utilise distillery flue gas and effluent from the Scotch Whisky Industry to produce high value co-products, such as copper-enriched pig feed. The systems also operate symbiotically with anaerobic digesters and fermenters. They have completed a two year pilot study in the Scotch Whisky sector with encouraging results, and are now teaming with Whisky producers and academic organisations to scale the systems up to a commercial level. They collaborate with Napier, Newcastle and Strathclyde Universities.

A number of companies are focusing on high value products from algae: Supreme Biotechnologies Ltd (London, founded 2007) produces high quality Astaxanthin for nutraceutical, cosmeceutical and pharmaceutical uses from Haematococcus pluvialis cultivated in artificially illuminated photobioreactors in Nelson, New Zealand72

, and extracted using Super Critical CO2. The company has links with University College London, and is interested in sourcing feedstocks from the UK, should biomass of suitable quality become available at competitive prices.

New Horizons Global Ltd

(a Northern Ireland company whose main operation is based near Liverpool, founded 2008) produce omego-3 lipids heterotrophically from a proprietary strain of microalgae (developed through Hull University) for applications including the feed, nutraceutical and pharmaceutical sectors. The company has an 800,000 L fermentation capacity at a 12 acre facility, and also has links with Liverpool University.

Algae Biotechnology Products Ltd

(Glasgow) was founded in April 2009 as an enterprise that aims to produce a variety of products from algae, including nutraceuticals, biofuels and bioplastics.

Nutrabio Ltd

(Essex; founded 2009) collaborates with Proalgen Biotech Ltd in Chennai, India on a Spirulina71 product with the trade name Nutralina (enriched in antioxidants though media manipulation during growth, and suitable as a food additive), and endeavours to establish growth of this product in the UK.

In 2010, the Welsh company Merlin BioDevelopments Ltd

(founded January 2009) patented a process to turn the nutrient-rich liquid residue from AD into an algal growth medium that out-performs synthetic media and is completely sustainable. The growth of the algae is further boosted by using CO2 from CHP flue gases. The biomass is being used to generate nutraceuticals and animal feed. The company has existing links with the Universities of Bangor, Bath and Swansea.

Other companies that are pursuing the integration of algal growth with Anaerobic Digestion include Adnams BioEnergy Ltd/ BioGroup Ltd (Suffolk; founded 2008) and Anthill Environmental Ltd

(Cambs; founded 2003).

A biotechnological approach is being taken by Spicer Biotech

71 Spirulina has been re-named Arthrospira; due to the still widespread use of the term Spirulina internationally especially when referring to the nutraceutical product this report has not adopted the new nomenclature.

(Bedford), founded in 2010 as a new research division of the engineering company Spicer Consulting. With combined engineering and biological expertise, the company is developing

72 Reasons for production in New Zealand include extensive expertise in scaled growth at Cawthron Institute, Nelson NZ (from where the PBR technology has been licensed) and NZ Government grant support (pers. comm. Mahesh Shah).

22

novel laboratory scale photobioreactors for testing and modelling algal productivity prior to outdoor pilot phase scale-up. A second arm develops a molecular tool-kit for modified algal strains. The company collaborates with the Universities of Cambridge and Cranfield.

Photobioreactor.co.uk

(PBR-UK; Nottingham, founded 2010) develops micro-algae cultivation technology to capture greenhouse gas carbon dioxide and produce commodity biomolecules. The company also employs micro-algae cultivation as a means to recycle wastewater. PBR-UK provide proprietary micro-algae cultivation engineering solutions either under license or as joint ventures.

The company Enlightened Designs Ltd

(Devon, founded 2010) is in early stages of developing a novel design of outdoor photobioreactors. The thin flat panel PBRs aim to exploit the flashing light effect in sunlight, will use microporous membranes to enhance gas transfer and will be constructed in light-weight polymers to reduce cost and enable a manufacturing process which is linearly scalable. The company collaborates with Exeter University and PML and is pursuing collaborations with the University of Plymouth, North Wyke/Rothamsted and the Eden Project.

A promising underpinning technology for algal screening and cultivation has been developed by Sphere Fluidics Ltd

(Cambridge, founded 2010). The Company is a spin-out from the ESPRC-funded Microdroplets collaboration between Cambridge University and Imperial College. Their lab-on-a-chip technology can select, store and retrieve picodroplets containing a unique, single cell from vast background populations. Algal colonies can be grown from these single cells in their picodroplets, which can consequently be split, sorted and screened for e.g. growth characteristics, response to changes in environment and metabolite profile. The technology can be applied to discovery of unique algae strains for application in industries including: biofuels, food and cosmetics.

Finally, all major oil companies

fund various levels of algal R&D in collaboration with universities; however, project topics and partners are confidential.

1.3.2 Macroalgae73

1.3.2.1 History of Exploitation Harvesting of kelp dates back in Europe to before the 17th century where it was used extensively as a fertilizer. In the 16th and 17th centuries, it was discovered in France that the soda and potash required for making glass and glazing pottery could be produced from kelp (Neushul 1987). The industry spread to Scotland, the Orkney Islands and Norway. Kelp was an ideal source of materials for explosives, the potash being an ingredient of gun powder and the acetone, another kelp derivative, a key component of cordite, a smokeless powder used extensively by the British (Kelly and Dworjanyn 2008). This was followed by the discovery that kelps contain alginates, which is still currently one of their main uses.

Within Europe the most common system for obtaining seaweed biomass is by harvesting natural stocks in tidal coastal areas with rocky shores. Scotland potentially has Europe’s largest area of standing stock. Walker (1947- 1955) from the Scottish Seaweed Research Association surveyed 8500 km of Scottish coast. From this he estimated that there was some 8000 km2 of seaweed habitat, with the main areas occurring round the Shetlands, the Outer Hebrides and Orkney (Kelly and Dworjanyn 2008).

In Europe, knowledge of seaweed cultivation is scattered across several R&D groups and a few industrial groups with the only seaweed cultivation in the UK.

1.3.2.2 Macroalgal UK Industries Within the UK, The Hebridean Seaweed Company Ltd

73 Based on pers. comm. Michele Stanley

(founded 2005; near Stornoway, Isle of Lewis) is the largest industrial seaweed processor. The company has a permit to harvest wild Ascophylum nodosum and manufactures seaweed products for use in the animal feed supplement, soil enhancement, alginate and nutraceutical sectors. But it must be noted that the UK no longer has an active alginate production industry, the last processing plant in Girvan ceased alginate production in 2009.

23

Orkney Seaweed Company Ltd

, founded in 1988, manufactures a range of products based on liquid extraction from seaweed harvested off Orkney in Scotland. Their liquid seaweed products are used in both conventional and organic horticulture and agriculture due to a range of plant growth promoting properties.

Böd Ayre Products Ltd (founded 2003, Shetland) processes seaweed hand-picked at the Shetland coast into organic products including edible seaweed for human consumption, animal feed and plant fertiliser. The company runs two trial seaweed cultivation farms, and collaborates with Leeds University on a TSB project for extraction of high value algal ingredients for the cosmetics industry. Seaveg

(Finest Quality Sea Vegetables), a Scottish company, are also offering hand- picked seaweeds from the North West Coast of Ireland to the niche dietary supplement market.

In Northern Ireland, Irish Seaweed

(previously Dolphin Sea Vegetable Company) was established in 1990 as a family run business which hand harvests a range of different types of edible seaweeds from around the Irish coast.

An integrative approach is being taken by the salmon farm Loch Duart Ltd (Edinburgh, founded 1999), who are combining sea urchin, seaweed and salmon farming in integrated aquaculture, and by Neo Argo Ltd

(Essex, founded 2009) who are investigating the use of macroalgae to filter out microalgae in ecologically sensitive areas (though adsorbtion or repulsion).

To develop the commercial potential of macroalgae in the UK, the Crown Estate is now actively involved in discussions (through their Macroalgal Forum) with researchers, the aquaculture industry and customer partners to move forward with plans to establish a pilot commercial-scale cultivation of macroalgae for energy and other commercially valuable products. Their first meeting took place in June 2010 at Stirling, a follow-up meeting occurred in March 2011. At this second meeting the Crown Estate stated they were in the process of commissioning a study to investigate valorisation chains that might be able to extract higher value compounds from macroalgae that would ultimately be destined for use as biofuels. 1.3.3 Conclusions Over the past 30 years, the UK has produced a number of highly innovative algal companies whose work has driven the algal field forward on an international level. Currently, a small number of UK companies are well established on an international stage; those are either technology providers, or service the high value spectrum of algal products from established species and strains. There are early beginnings of an algal biotechnology industry; either through biorefining e.g. of macroalgal biomass (investigated by Böd Ayre Ltd), or by developing microalgae as a customised expression platform (e.g. Spicer Biotech, and providers of underpinning technologies such as Sphere Fluidics Ltd). Hardly any commercial activity exists in downstream processing. In addition to the companies named above who are directly engaged in algal activities, there are many others who are currently not directly involved, but are following the development of the field with a view to enter once suitable opportunities arise. This includes particularly

• technology providers (such as Eco-Solids International Ltd, NPM Heat Recovery and P&M Pumps Ltd) whose expertise could be applied to parts of the algal production and processing value chain

• AD companies with an interest in adding value to and reducing the need to store their liquid digestate • farming estates who are looking to either diversify their crops, or for integrated solutions for energy generation

and bioremediation

Two algal stakeholder meetings for algal industries (with an emphasis on those located in the East of England) were organised in January and March 2011 by the InCrops Enterprise Hub. As a consequence of these meetings, industry representatives have set up an UK Algal Biomass Association Group on the professional social networking site LinkedIn74

(this has as yet no officially links with the European Algal Biomass Association, but serves as an informal discussion forum for the industry, and is open to any interested party). Discussions on setting up a Trade Association for Algal Industries were also started at these meetings (and were still under way when this report was finalised), in order to give the industry a united voice and raise its profile towards decision makers.

Looking ahead to emerging opportunities for new industrial activities, considerable potential exists on the biological side to build on the academic expertise in e.g. synthetic biology. Industrial biotechnology solutions could and are being developed; these could then be commercialised through partnership with existing companies, or by forming university spin-outs. On the engineering side, the greatest potential for the UK currently lies in the development of integrated

74 www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=3744614&trk=myg_ugrp_ovr

24

solutions for growth and processing, following the integrated biorefining concept; many academic groups and industrial technology providers exist whose expertise could be drawn into further developing such integrated algal solutions, once feasibility had been confirmed and the sector had gained momentum. 1.4 Summary This Chapter has given an overview of current and past activity concerning algae in the UK both in the academic and industrial arena. Academic algal research in the past has underpinned progress of bioscience in general, and laid solid foundations for algal bioscience. The UK currently has a strong and diverse knowledge base of relevance to algae, with clear strengths in ecology and fundamental biology. Overall, however, the community describes itself as disjointed, which can in part be attributed to a lack of coherence in existing funding streams and absence of strategic leadership75

. Industrial activity is slowly increasing. The turn-over of companies has been high, but valuable contributions to the field have been made by now dissolved companies during their life time. Most of the currently active companies have some existing collaborations with UK universities; this facilitates the translation of breakthroughs in fundamental academic research into industrial applications. Step changes could be expected if the expertise of the academic and industrial communities were to come together to apply their experience under a strategic framework, rather than on an ad hoc basis, to address key challenges that our society faces.

75 c.f. key outcomes of DECC report, p.3 (available at www.nnfcc.co.uk/tools/assessing-the-potential-for-algae-in-the-uk)

25

2. INTERNATIONAL KEY PLAYERS AND MAJOR OBJECTIVES To assess its competitiveness and potential impact, the algal R&D capability in the UK needs to be put into the context of global activity on algae. This activity is in constant flux, with a high turn-over especially on the industrial scene. It is outside the scope of this study to give a comprehensive review of the international RD&D efforts on algae. Instead, this chapter gives a high-level overview of global interests relating to algae, lists prominent algal innovation centres world-wide, gives an overview of relevant EU projects and refers to initiatives where detailed and frequently updated information can be obtained. Following chapters will discuss UK expertise, and opportunities to capitalise on it, with reference to international activities. 2.1 High-level Overview of International Algal Interests Significant differences exist between international activities for macro- and microalgae. Macroalgae are chiefly produced for food, fertiliser, alginates, and pharmaceutical applications. Existing industries with large scale macroalgal cultivation plants are located in Asian countries (principally in China, the world’s largest producer of cultivated seaweed, but also in the Philippines, Korea, Indonesia, and Japan) and in Chile. The European industry, mainly focused on alginate production, has centres in France, the UK and Portugal; most biomass here is harvested from the wild rather than cultivated. To produce seaweeds as a bioenergy feedstock (e.g. for biogas or ethanol production), the concept of marrying mariculture with offshore wind farms is being investigated in Germany, Denmark, Netherlands and the US;

Pacific South West University are currently carrying out research funded by the DOE in the areas of site selection for cultivation, thermochemical and fermentation of the biomass (Stanley et al. 2008).

Established microalgal industries produce high-value products such as nutraceuticals, pigments and fish feed for hatcheries; leaders here are Australia76, Taiwan and Japan77, the US78 and Israel79. A multitude of companies have sprung up investigating the use of microalgae for production of liquid biofuels, with very high turn-over; highest activity is seen in the US80, but also in India (where Oilgae81, a global information support resource for the algae fuels industry, has its base), China, and other parts of Asia

.

R&D efforts in academia follow similar geographical trends – they are very strong and well-funded in the US, where not only biofuels82

76 e.g. Cognis’ 400 ha Dunaliella ponds (for β-carotene) at Whyalla and Hutt Lagoon; c.f.

but also high value biotechnological applications for algae are being intensively investigated, often leading

www.cognis.com/countries/Australia/en/Company+Profile/ 77 for the production of Chlorella and Spirulina (Spirulina has been re-named Arthrospira; due to the still widespread use of the term Spirulina internationally especially when referring to the nutraceutical product this report has not adopted the new nomenclature) 78 e.g. Earthrise (c.f. www.spirulinasource.com/earthfoodorigin1.html) and Microbio Resources, both Imperial Valley, CA: they produce Spirulina and Dunaliella, respectively; Cyanotech Co, Hawaii (www.cyanotech.com): their products are Spirulina and astaxanthin 79 e.g. NBT Ltd, Eilat, who produce Dunaliella, and Seambiotic, Ashkelon: their products are Nannochloropsis (for omega-3 fatty acids) and diatoms (for biofuels) 80 for examples see the AquaFUELS “Report on Main Stakeholders”, available at www.eaba-association.eu/dl_misc/indexd1.3.html 81 www.oilgae.com 82 This activity follows on from major investment into the Aquatic Species Programme, which the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Fuels Development funded from 1978 to 1996 to develop renewable transportation fuels from algae. The close-out report is available at www.nrel.gov/docs/legosti/fy98/24190.pdf. Examples of recent substantial funding support include $24 million awarded by the US Department of Energy in June 2010 to three research consortia to address the existing difficulties in the commercialisation of algal-based biofuels. The consortia are: 1. Sustainable Algal Biofuels Consortium (Mesa, Arizona): Led by Arizona State University, this consortium will focus on testing the acceptability of algal biofuels as replacements for petroleum-based fuels. Tasks include investigating biochemical conversion of algae to fuels and products, and analyzing physical chemistry properties of algal fuels and fuel intermediates. (DOE share: up to $6 million). 2. Consortium for Algal Biofuels Commercialization (San Diego, California): Led by the University of California, San Diego, this consortium will concentrate on developing algae as a robust biofuels feedstock. Tasks include investigating new approaches for algal crop protection, algal nutrient utilization and recycling, and developing genetic tools. (DOE funding: up to $9 million). 3. Cellana, LLC Consortium (Kailua-Kona, Hawaii): Led by Cellana, LLC, this consortium will examine large-scale production of fuels and feed from microalgae grown in seawater. Tasks include integrating new algal harvesting technologies with pilot-scale cultivation test beds, and

26

to spin-out companies83. The BRIC countries are investing heavily in algal R&D and are rapidly catching up with the longer-established centres of expertise in Israel, Australia and the EU. Israel has a 30 year track record of developing biotechnological applications, and works e.g. on algal breeding programmes84

for energy, food/feed and high value applications, on the integration with bioremediation, and on photobioreactor design. The EU, like Israel, has extensive expertise in photobioreactor design, and focuses mainly on high value algal applications, and on integrated solutions for bioenergy generation. An overview of EU projects on algae that provides a more fine-grained picture of R&D interests is given in Section 2.3.

A high level summary of the key interests various countries have in algal academic and industrial activity is given in Table 2.1. This is based on the spectrum of entries in existing directories of algal stakeholders (c.f. Section 2.4), and on personal communication with UK and international stakeholders. Table 2.1: High-level overview of international objectives for algal RD&D

Key countries involved

Major objectives (for macro- and / or microalgae)

EU high value products, bioremediation, and integrated energy solutions / integrated biorefining US jet fuel and energy security; nutra-/pharmaceuticals; high tech solutions (e.g. synthetic biology) Canada sustainable (aviation) fuels, aquaculture, nutraceuticals Israel high value products, bioremediation, high tech developments Australia high value products; low and high tech technologies India / SE Asia low and high tech applications for bioremediation and bioenergy; nutraceuticals China low and high tech approaches; energy, food and high value products; bioprospecting for

pharmaceutical compounds from algae Brazil integrated bioenergy solutions; bioremediation for aquaculture; food & feed Japan high value products; CO2 capture Chile biofuels and high value products

2.2 International Algal Innovation Centres The transition from laboratory to industrial scale has been recognised as one of the major bottlenecks for algal technologies, not just in the UK, but also globally. To overcome this bottleneck, several Innovation Centres dedicated to scaling up algal technologies have been established internationally. Test facilities that are located in the UK have been introduced in Section 1.2.3; to put these into a global context, some international examples are outlined below. They give a flavour of the expertise and priorities in their host countries, and highlight global trends in RD&D. Most of these centres are associated with universities, but work closely with industrial stakeholders. • AlgaePARC (Wageningen, The Netherlands) www.algae.wur.nl/UK/projects/AlgaePARC/: This facility is in the

process of being completed at the University of Wageningen. The aim of AlgaePARC (Algae Production And Research Centre) is to conduct research into sustainable and economically viable microalgae

• Estación Experimental de la Fundación Cajamar (Almeria, Spain)

cultivation systems, and to fill the gap between fundamental research on algae and full-scale algae production facilities. This will be done by setting up flexible pilot scale facilities to perform applied research and obtain direct practical experience. It claims to be the first research centre in the world that allows comparison of different outdoor photobioreactor designs. The pilot facility comprises four large (24 m2) and three small (2.4 m2) photobioreactors. The centre is interested in developing the full process chain to produce algal biomass for food, feed, bulk chemicals and biofuels.

www.laspalmerillas.cajamar.es: This facility was established in 2006 and works in collaboration with the University of Almería, and with industry. Its pilot plant employs closed tubular photobioreactors and focuses on the production of microalgae

developing marine microalgae as animal feed for the aquaculture industry. (DOE funding: up to $9 million). Source:

for food and nutra-

www1.eere.energy.gov/biomass/news_detail.html?news_id=16122 83 e.g. PhycoBiologics Inc. (www.phycotransgenics.com/), Phycotransgenics LLC (www.phycotransgenics.com/standard/index.html) (prominent algal academics involved: Stefan Surzycki / Richard Sayre) 84 e.g. Jonathan Gressel’s spin-out TransAlgae Ltd (www.transalgae.com)

27

pharmaceuticals; however, the center also works to expand the catalog of products that can be obtained from microalgae: dietary supplements for human consumption, pharmaceutical compounds, food for aquaculture, animal feed or production of biofertilizers and biofuels. A particular emphasis is placed on the development of a complete production process of lutein for human use. Research projects study the whole process chain, starting with strain selection, over production system with integrated removal of CO2 from flue gas, down to harvesting and product purification.

• CEVA - Centre d'Etude et de Valorisation des Algues (Pleubian, France) www.ceva.fr/en/ceva/domaines.html: Unlike the previous two centres, which focused on production of microalgae, CEVA embraces both macro- and microalgae

• MBL - Microalgal Biotechnology Laboratory (Beer Sheva, Israel)

. It was established in 1982 to assist local communities in dealing with undesirable accumulation of washed-up seaweeds. Shortly after its inception, it refocused its activities towards companies wishing to make use of algae instead. This change in direction resulted in the construction in 1987 of new premises in Pleubian (Côtes d'Armor - Bretagne). It now provides services for companies interested in developing industrial products derived from marine-based ingredients (macroalgae, microalgae, marine plants and sea-water), and to the local municipalities faced with the problems of increasing amounts of washed-up seaweeds and other sea plants. Their facilities include a 400 m² site for algae cultivation on land, and a 6 ha marine seaweed cultivation farm.

http://bidr.bgu.ac.il/bidr/research/algal/About.htm: The laboratory has been engaged in algae research since 1975, and has a record of commercializing algae production systems for the feed and nutraceutical markets. The overall aim of research in the MBL is to develop the biotechnology involved in mass production of microalgae

• SD-CAB - Center for Algae Biotechnology (San Diego, California, USA)

for various commercial purposes, using brackish or sea water, and the high temperature and solar irradiance that abound year round in the desert. Research topics include: biosynthesis of natural products such as astaxanthin and PUFAs, and factors influencing their yield in scaled-up production; limiting factors for biomass yields in outdoors growth, such as effect of high light and its interaction with other environmental parameters; potential applications of N2-fixing cyanobacteria in bioremediation; and photobioreactor design. MBL’s outdoors facilities (> 2 ha) for large-scale the cultivation of microalgae include open ponds as well as flat panels and airlift tubular photobioreactors.

http://algae.ucsd.edu/: The centre was established in 2008 as a consortium of researchers from The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI), the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), and Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO), in partnership with private industry. Its mission is to support development of innovative, sustainable, and commercially viable microalgae

• AzCATI – Arizona Center for Algae Technology and Innovation (Mesa, Arizona, USA)

-based biotechnology solutions for renewable energy, green chemistry, bio-products, water conservation, and CO2 abatement. The centre incorporates international research scientists from the fields of biology, chemistry, engineering, economics, and policy. It also trains young scientists, educates the public, collaborates with private sector partners, and facilitates discussion with regional, state and national policy makers regarding the use of algae for energy independence and conservation of land and water. SD-CAB's test facility is located on 16 ha in California's Imperial Valley. The facility includes 11 large raceway ponds (760 m3 of culture volume each), and 30 smaller-scale raceways (400 L to 230 m3 each).

www.azcati.com: Funding for this centre was announced in late 2010; it is being built at Arizona State University's Polytechnic campus in Mesa. Its stated aim is to partner with the rapidly growing microalgae

• PRAJ-Matrix - The Innovation Center (Pune, India)

industry, to propel Arizona to the forefront of innovation in biofuels and bio-product research and development. AzCATI intends to: serve as a state-wide and international intellectual and resource hub for algae-based goods; find innovative commercial uses for algae; operate as a learning environment for next generation scientists; facilitate collaboration between higher education, industry and national entities; and be a national "test bed" for algae technology.

www.praj.net/matrix_innovation.asp: This R&D center (a division of Praj Industries Ltd) was inaugurated in 2008. It includes an Algal Sciences Centre of Excellence with core expertise in the isolation, characterization, preservation, cultivation and harvesting of microalgae

. Research projects include: novel cultivation techniques for lipid and carbohydrate production; algal technologies for bioremediation of polluted environments; integration of algal systems with existing industrial plants; and production of value added chemicals, nutrients and minerals from algal resources. Their facility includes algal cultivation systems that range from 15 L tanks to 10,000 L raceway ponds.

In addition to these centres that are dedicated to developing algal technologies, many more divisions focusing on algal research exist as part of centres for biofuels research. Examples include: • CABS – Center for Advanced Biofuel Systems (Saint Louis, Missouri, USA) www.danforthcenter.org/cabs/: This

centre is situated at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center and is one of the 46 Energy Frontier Research Centers that have been funded with a total of $777 million in 2009 for 5 years, through the U.S. Department of Energy’s

28

Office of Science85. Its mission is to increase the thermodynamic properties and kinetic efficiency of biofuel production in microalgae

• EBTIPLC Biofuel Research & Development Centre (Coimbatore, Tamilnadu, India)

and the terrestrial oil crop camelina, using rational metabolic engineering approaches coupled with the expression of enhanced enzyme complexes.

www.ebtiplc.com: This centre (a division of Enhanced Biofuels & Technologies India (P) Ltd) conducts research into both microalgae

and the terrestrial oil crop jatropha as feedstock for biofuels.

The work of international centres is referred to in following chapters, where relevant to the discussion of UK expertise. 2.3 Large European Projects in Algal Biotechnologies Across the EU, a number of collaborative, often cross-national R&D projects on algae have been funded in recent years. Their titles, given in Table 2.2, give a flavour of the research priorities and expertise that exist in the EU. Unlike the Innovation Centres introduced in Section 2.2 above, many of these projects deal with fundamental science with relevance to macro- and microalgae. They also indicate opportunities for UK academics and companies to engage in further collaborative work, following on from these current / recent projects. Table 2.2: Overview of collaborative RD&D projects in the EU Name / Abbreviation

Full Title Start Date

AIM-HI Acoustic Imaging of Macrophytes and Habitat Investigation 08/11/2010

ALGICOAT Production of coatings based on lipids from microalgae and at same time CO2 fixation

01/04/2008

ALGOHUB™ Exploitation and use of microalgae in Nutrition & Health 2008

ALLGas Oil Industrial-scale Demonstration of Sustainable Algae Culture for Biofuels Production 2011

AQUAFUELS Algae and aquatic biomass for a sustainable production of 2nd generation biofuels 01/01/2010

AQUAMAR Marine Water Quality Information Services 01/04/2010

ASIMUTH Applied simulations and Integrated modelling for the understanding of toxic and harmful algal blooms

01/12/2010

BIOALGAESORB Enabling European SMEs to remediate wastes, reduce GHG emissions and produce biofuels via microalgae cultivation

01/08/2010

BIOCOMPLEX Physical aspects of the evolution of biological complexity 01/01/2010

BIOFAT BIOfuel From Algae Technologies 2011

BIOMARA Sustainable biofuels from marine biomass 2009

CENIT BIOSOS “BIOrefinería SOStenible” 2010

CENIT CO2 Development of an industrial process for the production of bioethanol from microalgae by using flue gasses from a coal power station

2006

CENIT SOST CO2 “Nuevas Utilizaciones Industriales Sostenibles del CO2” 2008

CHEM-FREE Development of a chemical-free water treatment system through integrating UV-C, ultra sound and fibre filters

01/07/2006

CLEAN WATER Water detoxification using innovative vi-nanocatalysts 01/06/2009

COMBINE Coccolithophores morphology, biogeography, genetic and ecology database 18/08/2008

COSI Chloroplast signals 01/07/2008

CYANOBAC-RESPIRATION

Organization and Dynamics of Respiratory Electron Transport Complexes in Cyanobacteria

01/08/2010

CYCLOSIS The biophysics of cytoplasmic streaming in Chara corallina 01/03/2008

DIMBA Disease and immunity in marine brown algae 01/09/2008

DIRECTFUEL Direct biological conversion of solar energy to volatile hydrocarbon fuels by engineered cyanobacteria

01/10/2010

85 c.f. www.danforthcenter.org/documents/Danforth_Leaflet_Summer_2009.pdf, http://science.energy.gov/bes/efrc/centers/ and www.energy.gov/7768.htm

29

Abbreviation Full Title (continued) Start Date

ECTOTOX A toxico-genomic study of the model brown alga Ectocarpus siliculosus 01/10/2009

ENVICAT ENVIronmental control of CyAnoToxins production 01/01/1970

EUREKA ALGANOL Production of biofuels from micro-algae with a high content of starch and lipids using flue gas CO2 as a carbon source

01/01/2009

EUREKA BIOFIX Use of carbon dioxide from flue gas for production of microalgae 01/01/2006

EVO500 Origin of a cell differentiation mechanism and its evolution over 500 million years of life on land

01/10/2010

GIAVAP Genetic Improvement of Algae for Value Added Products 01/01/2011

GRACE Genetic Record of Atmospheric Carbon dioxidE 01/09/2008

HARVEST Control of light use efficiency in plants and algae - from light to harvest 01/10/2009

InteSusAl Demonstration of Integrated & Sustainable Enclosed Raceway and Photobioreactor Microalgae Cultivation with Biodiesel production and validation

2011

LABONFOIL Laboratory skin patches and smartcards based on foils and compatible with a smart-phone

01/05/2008

MABFUEL Marine algae as biomass for biofuels 01/06/2009

MAMBO MicroAlgae, starting Material for BioOil 01/05/2009

MAREX Exploring Marine Resources for Bioactive Compounds: From Discovery to Sustainable Production and Industrial Applications

01/08/2010

MARPAH Marine micro-algae as global reservoir of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon degraders

20/10/2008

MIDTAL Microarrays for the detection of toxic algae 01/09/2008

OCEANSAVER Dramatically reducing spreading of invasive, non-native exotic species into new ecosystems through n efficient and high volume capacity Ballast Water Cleaning System (OCEANSAVER)

01/11/2004

PROTOOL Productivity tools: Automated tools to measure primary productivity in european seas. A new autonomous monitoring tool to measure the primary production of major European seas

01/09/2009

REPROSEED REsearch to improve PROduction of SEED of established and emerging bivalve species in European hatcheries

01/04/2010

SBO SUNLIGHT Production of lipids and process design with diatoms. SENS BIOSYN Biosensors for industrial biosynthesis of commercial antioxidants 2009

SHAMASH Biofuel from microalgae autotrophs 01/12/2006 SHELLPLANT Development of a novel production system for intensive and cost effective bivalve

farming 01/01/2010

SOLAR-H2 European solar-fuel initiative - renewable hydrogen from sun and water; science linking molecular biomimetics and genetics

01/02/2008

SUNBIOPATH Towards a better sunlight to biomass conversion efficiency in microalgae 10/02/2010

SUPRA-BIO Sustainable products from economic processing of biomass in highly integrated biorefineries

10/02/2010

SYMBIOSE Symbiose: Coupling microalgae cultivation and anaerobic digestion 2009

VICI Photosynthetic cell factories WETSUS ALGAE Advanced water treatment

2.4 Sources of Information on Algal Stakeholders Internationally Several bodies and initiatives have sought to collate information on world-wide algal expertise. The EU programme AquaFUELs has assembled a directory of expertise; the final version of their “Report on Main Stakeholders” is available at http://www.eaba-association.eu/dl_misc/indexd1.3.html. This directory “lists 419 stakeholders, including 88 European Industrial Stakeholders, 124 Non European Industrial Stakeholders, 164 European Research/Academia Stakeholders and 43 Non European Research/Academia Stakeholders. In Europe, (industrial)86

86 Italicised text in brackets added to original quotation of AquaFUELs report to increase clarity

players from Belgium (15), Spain (14),

30

Germany (12), France (11), Italy (8) and the Netherlands (7) rank first, but industrial partners can be found in most European countries. [...] The vast majority of Non European Industrial main stakeholders can be found in the US (86), well ahead of Australia (5), Israel (5), Japan (5), Taiwan (4), India (4) and Israel (4). [..] Most of the 164 European Researchers and Academia are located in the United Kingdom (52 researchers)87. As (was seen)88

The European Algal Biomass Association is constantly updating and expanding this list, to produce an “EABA Who’s Who Directory of Algae Stakeholders”. So far, two updates have been sent to EABA members (one in Dec 2010 with an additional 300 entries, another in Feb 2011 with a further 234 entries). These documents appear not to be available on the EABA website, but members have been invited to forward them and feedback questionnaires to their relevant contacts; EABA also invites feedback and submissions for inclusion in the directory via their website

for industry players, Belgium (18), France (16), Germany (15), Italy (14), Spain (14) and to a lesser extent Czech Republic and Ireland appear ahead of other European countries. […] From the 43 Non European Research/Academia Stakeholders, the US (9), India (6) and Israel (6) have the greatest number of stakeholders, even if research appears to be taking place in all continents” (pp 20-22 of AquaFUELs report).

89. Updates on activities (especially on the algal industrial side) can also be obtained from Algae Industry Magazine90, and useful information and discussion fora are provided by Oilgae91. Further relevant information is often included in Biofuels Digest92

Participants in the questionnaire described in Chapter 1 of this study have been made aware that their interest in algae will be forwarded to EABA unless they object, for inclusion in the updated EABA directory. In general, all stakeholders are invited to submit the EABA questionnaire available via

.

http://eaba-association.eu/index.php in order to get included in the directory. Up-to-date and accurate information in such directories will greatly help to display UK expertise on the international stage, and should aid in building consortia e.g. for EU funding opportunities. 2.5 Conclusions and Trends A large number of academic and industrial players are active on the international algal stage. Nations which have a long-established history of expertise for macroalgae – chiefly in applications for food, fertiliser, alginates, and pharmaceuticals – include China, Japan, the Philippines, Korea, Indonesia, Chile, and in Europe coastal countries such as France, the UK, Norway and Portugal. For microalgae, the US (with its Aquatic Species Programme, as well as pioneering nutraceutical companies), Australia, Israel, Japan, China, Taiwan and several EU countries have well established capabilities, again chiefly in high value applications such as nutraceuticals The more recent biofuels boom has had a large influence, especially in the US and the BRIC countries; considerable funding has been invested there. The advantages of algae – no need for arable land or freshwater to produce the crop, and the possibility to boost yields with CO2 from flue gasses, to name but a few – are intuitive and attract investors’ attention. The difficulties of producing algal fuels at scale – including: the energy burden for mixing, harvesting and processing; culture collapse and contamination / grazer control – are much less intuitive, but have proved very hard to overcome. To attract funding, a significant number of the new companies that have been formed make unrealistic claims about productivities and profits; however, this threatens the credibility of the field in general. In addition, the collapse of many new companies, including the high-profile MIT-spin-out GreenFuel Technologies Corporation in 2009, has led to more caution. Internationally, recognition is growing that the pursuit of algae only for bioenergy will make successful commercialisation very difficult; the general trend is towards integrative solutions that make use of the protein fraction for food and/or feed as well as the oil fraction for fuel. This is also shown by the priorities of the Algal Innovation Centres introduced in Section 2.2; all of them are interested in a range of algal products and processes, rather than on algal biofuels only. There is also an increasing trend to exploit algae as an industrial biotechnology platform; international leaders are the US, Israel, and the EU, although BRIC countries are catching up rapidly. The international landscape of algal expertise impacts on the competitiveness of the UK-based algal R&D capability that has been reviewed in Chapter 1. Part II of this study will analyse how the UK can best capitalise on its strengths in the light of current and emerging opportunities for algal R&D, and in the context of the international competition that this chapter has outlined. 87 Emphasis added by author 88 Italicised text in brackets added to original quotation of AquaFUELs report to increase clarity 89 http://eaba-association.eu/index.php 90 Free daily email updates can be subscribed to via www.algaeindustrymagazine.com 91 www.oilgae.com 92 Free regular email updates can be subscribed to via http://biofuelsdigest.com/bdigest/

31

3. ALGAL PRODUCTS AND INDICATIVE MARKET VALUES

Algae can be cultivated to produce a wide range of end products. The market values for these products range from £100's per tonne for energy products to £1000's per gram for very high value products. In most cases, products derived from algae need to break into established markets dominated by other, often petrochemical feedstocks, and compete with well-established supply chains (e.g. for fuels and plastics). However, some product groups exist (such as hydrocolloids or feed for fish hatcheries) which can only be derived from algae, or where algal products have functional advantages over alternatives. While some such products are already established in the market, others are still to be discovered from the cornucopia of algal diversity. Algal products can be classified into four categories based on monetary value:

1. Base commodities (high volume, low value) 2. Added value commodities (high volume, added value compared to energy) 3. Speciality products (low volume, high value) 4. ‘Ceuticals’ (very low volume, very high value)

In addition, algae can be used to perform bioremediation. This section gives an overview of the key products, how close they are to market, and what role the UK might play in developing their potential. Currently available details of products that are, or could be, derived from algae, their price, market size and key producers are summarised in Table 3.193

.

3.1 Base Commodities Base commodities include energy and animal feed products. Prices of up to £1000 per tonne can be expected. Energy products which might be derived from algae include liquid biofuels such as biodiesel (fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) derived from triacylglycerides) or ‘green diesel’ (various forms of hydrocarbons with properties resembling fossil diesel), jet fuel (e.g. isoprenoids), ethanol and higher alcohols (from fermentation of carbohydrates), biogas (from Anaerobic Digestion of wet biomass), and electricity / heat

(from co-firing in power / CHP plants, or potentially from algal biophotovoltaic cells).

Prices for current bioenergy products fluctuate, often tracking the variation in price for fossil fuels, and in March 2011 were on average £750 (£715-£790) per tonne for bioethanol and £760 (£632-£884) per tonne for biodiesel (c.f. Table 3.1 for details).

Although immense R&D efforts are being made internationally on generating microalgal biofuels, truly photosynthetically generated algal biofuels are not yet commercially viable (Solazyme Inc. successfully use heterotrophically rather than photosynthetically grown algae to manufacture their jet fuels under contract to the US Navy94

). All major oil companies have algal R&D projects, and a multitude of start-up companies are promising imminent break-throughs, but none have materialised as yet: indeed, there have even been prominent collapses of high-profile companies such as the MIT-spin out GreenFuel Technologies Corporation (which had attracted investments of $70M). Key challenges include the energy burden of harvesting and processing of algal biomass, as well as scale-up of growth. The jury is hence still out as to whether or not bulk algal biofuels will ever become a commercial reality; however, any progress made on lowering the energy expenditure and cost of algal cultivation will benefit the higher value uses of algal biomass.

For the UK, owing to the high population density, producing algal biofuels at appreciable scale is only realistic if they are grown at sea. The EU-funded Oasis Network, run from Cranfield University, addresses the considerable engineering challenge associated with off-shore algal growth; Newcastle University is also actively researching in this area (c.f. Section 1.2). A further opportunity for the UK lies in using its R&D excellence to develop IP that can be applied in places more suited to large-scale algal production. This was the approach taken by the Carbon Trust’s Algae Biofuels Challenge, which brought together academic excellence across the UK to tackle bottlenecks in the commercialisation of algal biofuels produced abroad, and which in its short period of existence – through providing a platform for exchange and collaboration

93 The majority of the market data in this chapter and in Table 3.1 has been provided under subcontract by Drs Claire Smith and Adrian Hickson, NNFCC. 94 c.f. www.solazyme.com/media/2009-09-24

32

between experts – had created valuable outputs. The withdrawal of funding for this project, which had been portrayed as the UK flagship on algal biofuels R&D, has caused damage on an international level to the credibility of the UK’s commitment to produce sustainable transport fuels.

Bioenergy derived from algae could play a role in the UK as one of a range of products outputted from an integrated biorefinery, where algal biomass is grown using, wherever possible, byproducts of the other industrial processes – CO2 from flue gasses, nutrients from waste water streams, and low grade heat (to stabilise temperatures during winter months). The integration of algal growth with Anaerobic Digestion (AD) is being actively pursued by the academic and industrial community in the UK (c.f. Sections 1.2 and 1.3); storage of the liquid digestate during the months where spreading as fertiliser is not possible can become a bottleneck for AD systems, and its transformation into an algal growth medium could address this issue. The algal biomass could, in the simplest arrangement, be fed straight back into the AD process for the production of biogas, or processed in a biorefining context for other bioenergy products. If higher value products are included in the biorefinery outputs, their market size needs to be matched to avoid market saturation / flooding and hence price decay. Prices for bulk animal feed are between £50-1100 per tonne on a dry basis with pricing dependent on nutritional value. Algal animal feed has to compete against a wide range of protein sources in the current animal feed market; its most natural place is as a replacement for fishmeal, which is a highly sought after but unsustainable feed (traded at £1120 per tonne). Macroalgal feed is already established (e.g. Ascophyllum, or Laminaria); several projects submitted to the recent TSB Call on Sustainable Protein Production address the development of microalgae for animal feed. Regulatory restrictions permitting, using whole cracked microalgae grown in conjunction with AD for animal feed is one of the most promising areas of development for the UK. 3.2 Added Value Commodities Added value commodities sell at a premium to energy and feed products. Products in this category include the commodity chemicals lactic acid, polyhydroxyalkanoates (both used e.g. for production of bioplastics) and butanol. Market volumes for this type of product will range from 100,000 tonnes to 10's of millions of tonnes; prices range from £1000 to £5000 per tonne. Commodity products compete on terms of price within an open market with multiple producers. These products need to compete with petrochemical counterparts and therefore price is critical, although the market for certain products will accommodate a small premium for an environmentally friendly bio-based product. Developing bio-alternatives in this context is a considerable challenge that would be greatly aided by concrete and long-term government policies and focused R&D funding. This has been deliberated in detail in a recent report by the Milken Institute95

.

Substantial R& D in biology, biotechnology, process engineering (all underpinned with sound life cycle analysis) is still needed to exploit the potential algae have to contribute in this area. The research base in the UK, particularly with its emerging strength in synthetic biology and integrated biorefining, is very well suited to address these challenges, and to aid in underpinning the transition from fossil- to bio-based materials. 3.3 Speciality Products Speciality products cover a wide range of products and application areas. Products in this class include anti-oxidants, pigments96, vitamins, PUFAs, hydrocolloids and whole algae for speciality food97

95The Milken Instute: ‘Turning Plants into Products: Delivering on the Potential of Industrial Biotechnology’, April 2011, available at

and feed applications. They are sold on

http://www.milkeninstitute.org/publications/publications.taf?function=detail&ID=38801269&cat=finlab 96The major pigments include chlorophyll a, b and c, β-carotene, phycocyanin, xanthophylls (astaxanthin, canthaxanthin, lutein) and phycoerythrin. These pigments have existing applications in food, feeds, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics, and there is an increasing demand for their use as natural colours in textiles and as printing dyes. The value of these pigments lies not only in their colorant properties, but also as antioxidants with demonstrated health benefits. Source: Report by the Algal Biotechnology for Wales Knowledge Transfer Centre “A Technology Review and Roadmap for Microalgal Biotechnology in Wales” (2008), p.10 (available at www.algaektc.com/A4B Microalgal Biotechnology, Technology Review and Road Map.pdf) 97The documented bioactive properties of microalgae have led to a well developed market for dried biomass as a human nutritional supplement, sold in different forms such as capsules, tablets and liquids. The most important microalgae species for this purpose are Dunaliella salina, Arthrospira sp, Chlorella sp and Aphanizomenon flos-aquae. These are mainly produced in

33

the basis of their effect during use, and their value can depend on the application area. These products complete against other effective products rather than fossil equivalents. Application areas include cosmetics, personal care and food ingredients. Some types of animal feed ingredients fall into this area particularly feed for aquaculture e.g. astaxanthin98 and live microalgae for hatcheries99. Products in this category have a price of £5 to £300 per kilogram. Market volumes will range from 1000 tonnes to 100,000 tonnes. Algal-derived products may carry a premium over synthetically-derived alternatives, especially where there are tangible performance benefits (e.g. the increased antioxidant activity of the naturally occurring 9-cis stereoisomer of beta carotene relative to the synthetic all-trans isomer; (BenAmotz and Levy 1996)). Most of the commercially available algal products to date fall into this category. In the UK, a small number of companies work in this area (c.f. Section 1.3), although most of the biomass is currently grown abroad. An example is Supreme Biotechnologies Ltd100

, a UK company specialising in algal astaxanthin production, whose production site is in New Zealand; reasons include pre-existing collaboration with a research institute there (from which the PBR technology has been licensed) and NZ Government grant support (pers. comm. Mahesh Shah). The development of industrial biotechnology and integrated biorefineries could see production in the UK increase substantially, since the value of the products would warrant artificial illumination.

A current EU project which addresses (amongst other things) the use of microalgae as feedstock for speciality products is BioAlgaeSorb101

– UK partners include the Universities of Durham and Swansea, Varicon Aqua Solutions Ltd and the British Trout Association.

3.4 ‘Ceuticals’ The ‘ceuticals’ market includes a very diverse range of algal natural products used in small volumes but commanding very high market values. This category includes pharmaceuticals and high-end nutraceuticals and cosmeceuticals. The price of products in this area reflects the research and development costs of bringing the product to market rather than manufacturing costs. Products in this category have market prices above £2000 per kg. The research base in the UK, through industrial biotechnology, bioprospecting and synthetic biology, is very well suited to develop the potential algae have to contribute to this constantly evolving market.

UK pioneers in this field are PML Applications Ltd (PMLA). Since 2002, NERC, BBSRC and TSB have funded collaborative projects with Boots PLC which have lead to the construction of the UK’s first carbon capture biorefinery. Emissions from

outdoor ponds or shallow raceways, but also in closed photobioreactors at more northerly latitudes including Europe. Certain cyanobacteria, for example Arthrospira platensis and A. maxina (formerly Spirulina) are also marketed as whole food, being particularly protein-rich (up to 77% dry mass) and containing all essential amino acids, a number of important essential fatty acids (EFAs) and vitamins of the B, C, D and E groups. […] The sector is currently maturing beyond basic and sometimes unproven supplements to one of delivering more subtle benefits that aid absorption of nutrients, and prevent a range of conditions relating to energy metabolism, such as diabetes. Source: Report by the Algal Biotechnology for Wales Knowledge Transfer Centre “A Technology Review and Roadmap for Microalgal Biotechnology in Wales” (2008), p.11 (available at www.algaektc.com/A4B Microalgal Biotechnology, Technology Review and Road Map.pdf) 98Astaxanthin and canthaxanthin are used e.g. for colouring the flesh of farmed salmon. Increasing demand for organically farmed fish has expanded the market for microalgae-derived astaxanthin. Adapted from: Report by the Algal Biotechnology for Wales Knowledge Transfer Centre “A Technology Review and Roadmap for Microalgal Biotechnology in Wales” (2008), p.11 (available at www.algaektc.com/A4B Microalgal Biotechnology, Technology Review and Road Map.pdf) 99Microalgae are used ubiquitously as a feed source in the commercial hatchery production of juvenile marine fish and shellfish. There are thousands of marine hatcheries globally, producing billions of juvenile fish and shellfish annually. A relatively small number (~6-10) of easy-to-rear microalgae species have been adopted for this purpose. In most cases, the microalgae are cultured on site by hatchery personnel and presented live to the fish / shellfish larvae. […] However, there is a growing trend for hatcheries to purchase proprietary microalgae concentrates in order to simplify on-site operations. These concentrates are supplied by companies specialising in the large scale production and processing of microalgae. […] There is further scope to develop the sector by introducing better quality products, since it is widely acknowledged that existing concentrated products still do not match live microalgae for hatchery applications (nutritional composition; physical attributes; product stability). Dried microalgae biomass (especially Arthrospira) is also widely used as an ingredient in formulated feeds for aquaculture species and terrestrial animals (farmed livestock, poultry, pets), where it has been demonstrated to have health promoting effects. Source: Report by the Algal Biotechnology for Wales Knowledge Transfer Centre “A Technology Review and Roadmap for Microalgal Biotechnology in Wales” (2008), p.9-10 (available at www.algaektc.com/A4B Microalgal Biotechnology, Technology Review and Road Map.pdf) 100 c.f. www.supremebiotech.com/ 101 c.f. www.bioalgaesorb.com/

34

Boots’ 15 MW gas turbine power plant are utilised as a carbon source in a 32,000 L PBR102

. In the PBR, PMLA cultivate a proprietary robust strain of microalgae that delivers extracts with sun-screening, anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant and other proprietary properties. Boots PLC and Cognis (BASF) are currently formulating these extracts into consumer cosmeceutical products. As part of the project, PMLA have sequenced the algal strain’s genome and an efficient transformation system has been developed. This molecular toolkit will enable both the up-regulation of targeted gene sequences and the insertion of novel biosynthetic pathways into the strain in the near future.

3.5 Bioremediation Services In addition to providing the saleable products described above, algae can also be used in the bioremediation of wastes, most notably carbon dioxide and waste water. Both of these sectors are developing and as yet, there is no clear indication of the value that these services may attract. There appears to be no financial incentive for using algae for carbon dioxide scrubbing in the EU, as current policy does not allow producers to claim any allowances under the CER or the EU ETS for technologies using algae; the algal community is advised to lobby for this to be amended. The value of algae in waste water treatment will depend upon the stage of the process at which they are utilised. If algae are used in a secondary or tertiary treatment, potentially on the sludge liquor arising from anaerobic digestion, it could have a value of between £35 and £55 per tonne of chemical oxygen demand. Utilisation in other waste water treatment processes would require either new standards to remove nitrogen and phosphorus from final effluents and/or need to demonstrate significant reduction in operating costs. Although as yet not a discrete income stream, growing the algae using CO2 emissions and on waste water does have additional value in terms of avoiding the cost of bottled CO2 and synthetic nutrients for the growth medium. 3.6 Potential for the UK In summary, an area with particular development potential for the UK at this time appears to be the exploitation of high value chemicals for cosmeceuticals and nutraceuticals markets in the context of industrial biotechnology. Residues after extraction can be used for anaerobic digestion and the resulting biogas injected into the gas grid, although co-digestion with another feedstock will be needed to provide the necessary economies of scale. Biomass production costs can be lowered by growing the algae on nutrient-rich waste water and with waste CO2; appropriate regulatory standards would need to be met. Other areas of significance include generating IP e.g. for liquid biofuels (to be applied internationally), replacing fishmeal in animal feed, and developing integrated growth systems with anaerobic digestion and aquaculture. Given adequate support, algae have the potential to become a substantial driver in the development of a bio-based economy in the UK. This will be discussed in further detail in Part II.

102TSB Technology Programme: Collaborative Research & Development, Autumn 2007. “Biorefinery carbon capture and conversion into industrial feedstocks as direct replacements for petrochemicals. (CCIF). S. Skill (PI). The photobioreactor engineering design is licensed to the project from S. Skill.

Table 3.1: Overview of the key products that could be derived from algae, including (where currently available) their price, market values and key market players. Companies actually providing algal products are highlighted in red; products that cannot be derived from algae, but are competing with algal products and are given as a price comparison are highlighted in blue. Sources of information are given as numbered footnotes. Products in the same category are not necessarily equivalent, since many algal products serve speciality markets (c.f. Sector ‘Fertilisers’). Sector Item Price Estimates Market (Global) Market Players (companies providing algal

products in red)

Bioenergy Ethanol103 In 2010, prices ranged from €60-€69/hectolitre*. 58.2mn tonnes (2009)

UK Players: Ensus, British Sugar, Vivergo

Biomethane104 1.5-5 pence/kWh (was natural gas price 2008-2010 for manufacturing industry), plus supplement: 10p/kg for Transport; 6.7p/kWh for Gas Grid; £45.49-£53.27/MWh for Electricity (2008-March 2011))

EU: 8.3 Mtoe / 25.2 TWh (2009)105

UK Players (to grid): SGN/Centrica/National Grid, BioGroup

Biodiesel (FAME)106 Prices ranged from £38.2-£79.2/hectolitre (ex duty) for UK in 2010‡.

15.53mn tonnes (2009)

UK Players: Argent, Harvest Energy

Jet Fuel - Kerosene107 £443- £488/tonne (2010) (assumed 10% premium for bio) EU: 60 mn tonnes (2010)

UK Players: British Airways/Solena

Jet Fuel - HVO/HRJ (hydrogenated vegetable oil / hydrogenated renewable jet fuel)106

£443- £488/tonne (2010) (assumed 10% premium for bio) Neste Oil, Petrobras, UOP, Dynamic Fuels, Sustainable Oils and Altair

Chemicals Butanol108 £1100/tonne (2010) $5bn (3mn tonnes)

UK Players: Solvert, Butamax, Green Biologics. Rest of World: Gevo, Cobalt, Metabolic Explorer, Cathay Industrial Biotechnology, Terravitae

Ethanol102 In 2010, prices ranged from €60-€69/hectolitre*. 40bn L (2003)

Polyhydroxy-alkanoates107 £1200-4000/tonne (2010) <1000 tonnes (2009)

Mirel

Lactic acid107 ex works: £800-950/tonne (2011) 285,000 tonnes lactic acid ~90,000 tonnes PLA

Purac, Galactic, Natureworks

Succinic acid107 £2000-3000/tonne (2010) ~30,000 tonnes Myriant, BioAmber, Reverdia

* Ethanol prices generally track the price of oil. Prices for 24 March 2011 varied from €66 to €73/hL (£56 to £62/hL, or £715 to £790/tonne). ‡ Biodiesel prices generally track the price of oil. Average prices for March 2011 were between £57 and £79/hl (£632 to £884/tonne, assuming average density of 0.88 kg/L). 103 ICIS Chemical Business 104 UK National Statistics; Renewable Transport Fuel Certificate Value March 2011; DECC Renewable Heat Incentive Table of Tariffs, p. 52; roc http://www.eroc.co.uk/ http://www.decc.gov.uk/assets/decc/What%20we%20do/UK%20energy%20supply/Energy%20mix/Renewable%20energy/policy/renewableheat/1387-renewable-heat-incentive.pdf; 105 toe = tons of oil equivalent; data source: “Biogas Barometer”, a study carried out by EurObserv’ER. SYSTÈMES SOLAIRES, le journal des énergies renouvelables N° 200 (2010), 104-118 106 EnAgri Market Database 107 Based on ICIS Jet Kerosene Price Report plus adding a 10% premium for bio-based product (NNFCC DfT Study, in preparation). 108 Industry Source

36

Sector Item Price Estimates Market (Global) Market Players (companies providing algal products in red)

Food / Nutraceutical Carotenoids109 $766mn ($1.07bn 2010)

Astaxanthin107 Cosmeceuticals/ Nutraceuticals/Aquaculture: Prices range from £150 to £1,250/kg (2011). Specific health care markets: Can be 10 times the price of Astaxanthin sold into aquaculture markets.

$234mn (2007) Alga technologies, BioReal (Fuji Chemical Company), Cyanotech, Mera Pharmaceuticals, Parry Nutraceuticals, Blue Biotech International GmBH, LycoRed, Valensa

Astaxanthin107 Cosmeceuticals/ Nutraceuticals/Aquaculture: Prices range from £150 to £1,250/kg (2011). Specific health care markets: Can be 10 times the price of Astaxanthin sold into aquaculture markets.

$234mn (2007) Alga technologies, BioReal (Fuji Chemical Company), Cyanotech, Mera Pharmaceuticals, Parry Nutraceuticals, Blue Biotech International GmBH, LycoRed, Valensa

Astaxanthin & Canthaxanthin108

$150mn

Lutein110 $105.1m (2006) Kemin Industies, LycoRed, Overseal (Naturex), Phytone, Chr. Hansen, BASF, Cognis

Tocopherol107 £21/kg (2011) Carotech, LycoRed Beta carotene111 £47/kg (2011) $247mn (2007),

$392 (2010) BASF, DSM, Cognis, Allied Biotech

(allo-)Phycocyanin107 €3-50/mg, depending on provider and quantity ordered (2011)

Blue Biotech International GmBH, Greensea, Prozyme

EPA & DHA Omega 3 ingredients112

Marine oil (concentrates): $12-120/kg (2008); Algal oils: $70-160/kg (2008)

$1,286mn (71,000 tonnes) (2008)

Marine Oils - ONC, Pronova, EPAX, Croda, Denomega, DSM, Napro Pharma, and Nissui; Blue Biotech International GmBH, Martek Biosciences

Whole Cell (Spirulina spp)107 varies between €5/kg and €150/kg, depending on quality (2011)

Blue Biotech International GmBH, Cyanotech, Earthrise Nutritionals, Hainan Simai Enterprises, Parry Nutraceuticals

Whole Cell (Chlorella spp)107 $18/kg (2011) Taiwan Chlorella Manufacturing Co

109BCC Research 'The Global Market for Carotenoids' 2008 110Frost and Sullivan (2007) Strategic Analysis of the Global Markets for Lutein in Human Nutrition. 111Industry Source & BCC 'The Global Market for Carotenoids' March 2008; www.ubic-consulting.com/template/fs/documents/Nutraceuticals/The-World-Beta-Carotene-Ingredient-Market.pdf 112Frost & Sullivan and the Global Organization for EPA and DHA Omega-3. Global Overview of Marine and Algal Oil EPA and DHA Omega-3 Ingredients Markets 3rd September, 2009

37

Sector Item Price Estimates Market (Global) Market Players (companies providing algal

products in red)

Animal Feed (DCP is Digestible Crude protein)

Brewers grains (20t tipped)113 £38/t (0.09p/g DCP) (2011) €1000M26

Distiller Dried Pellets (imported meal)112

£210/t (2011)

Fishmeal Pure112 £1120/t (0.2p/g DCP) (2010) Maize Gluten (imported

Pell/Meal) 112 £203/t (2010)

Palm Kernal Expell Meal: Milando112

£178/t (0.15p/g DCP) (2010)

Rapeseed Meal: home produced112

£225/t (0.06g/p DCP)(2010)

Soya Bean Meal HiPro112 £329/t (0.08p/g DCP) (2010) Sugar Beet Pulp Dried

(imported Unmol pellets)112 £223/t (2010)

Wheatfeed pellets112 £190/t (0.15p/g DCP) (2010) Macroalgae: dried

Ascophyllum107 €1 per kg (ex factory) or £860/t Hebridean Seaweed Co, Arramara Teo, Böd Ayre

Aquaculture feed Macroalgae: dried

Ascophyllum107 €1.1/kg (ex factory) or £860/t Arramara Teo

live microalgae paste107 $210/kg (€38/l of of 18% paste) EU: 40,000 L of 12% paste

Blue Biotech International GmBH, Scottish Bioenergy, Seasalter Shellfish

Fertiliser dried Ascophyllum107 €1/kg (ex factory) Orkney Seaweed, Hebridean Seaweed Co liquid algal fertiliser107 £1760/kg Hebridees Liquid Seaweed, Böd Ayre AD digestate114 £3.60 per wet tonne (2010) Compost115 £40-80/t (2011) Inorganic fertiliser; blended

20.10.10 (a blend of nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium)116

£220-325/t (2009-2010)

113Reed Business Information 114The Andersons Centre (NNFCC biogas calculator) 115Wrap prices March 2011

38

Sector Item Price Estimates Market (Global) Market Players (companies providing algal products in red)

Personal care Personal Care Market117 €110bn Vitamin B5/Pro-B5

(Pantothenic acid)107 D-Panthenol: £5-6/kg (2010); Calcium Pantothenate: £15/kg (2010)

Vitamin C116 Ascorbic Acid / Sodium Ascorbate (all 2010): £8/kg (Chinese bulk £6/kg); Sodium Ascorbyl Phosphate: £60/kg; Ascorbyl Glucoside: £280/kg; Ascorbyl Palmitate: £50/kg

$1bn (2010) (110,000 tonnes, 2010)

Vitamin A107 Retinyl Palmitate: £60/kg (2010) Vitamin E107 Tocopheryl acetate: £10/kg (2010) Bioremediation Services

Waste Water Treatment107 £38-£55/t of COD treated in Activated Sludge Plant (2010) (highly indicative prices and dependent upon degradability)

Hydrocolloids Agar118 $18/kg (2009) $173 Mn Algas Marinas (Chile), Agarindo Bogatama

(Indonesia), Setexam (Morocco), MSC co (Korea), Hispanager (Spain), Huey Shyang Seaweed Industrial Company (China)

Alginates117 $12/kg (2009) $318 Mn FMC international, Danisco, Cargill, Food Chemifa Co, Hebridean Seaweed Co.

Carrageenans117 $10.5/kg (2009) $527 Mn CP Kelco, FMC Biopolymer

116WRAP 117Frost & Sullivan Report "Vitamins in personal care - Is it a wrinkle-free future?" 2008 118Bixler, H.J. & Porse, H. (2011). A decade of change in the seaweed hydrocolloids industry. Journal of Applied Phycology 23:321-335

PART II WHAT NEXT: ASSESSMENT OF UK POTENTIAL FOR ALGAL R&D Part I of this study has taken stock of algal119

expertise in the UK, given an overview of algal interests globally, and reviewed markets for algal products and services. Part II will analyse how the UK can best capitalise on its strengths in the light of current and emerging opportunities for algal R&D, and in the context of international competition.

It will first review potential opportunities for algal R&D to progress plant science and biotechnology in general (Chapter 4), then assess the strengths of the UK research capability on the global algae stage (Chapter 5), and move on to analyse gaps in algal research value chains in the UK (Chapter 6). Chapter 7 will assess levels of risk, reward and importance of areas of RD&D required to promote the development of an algal economy, and Chapter 8 will put the conclusions of this report into the context of the 2009 DECC report on the potential of algae120

and present scenarios of how BBSRC might address the algal field in the future.

4. POTENTIAL OPPORTUNITIES AND BENEFITS OF ALGAL R&D TO PROGRESS IN PLANT SCIENCE AND

BIOTECHNOLOGY IN GENERAL As global (and UK) society needs to move away from its reliance on fossil resources, biomass once again becomes resurgent as a principal feedstock Of the biological sciences, plant science and biotechnology in particular will need to provide solutions to key challenges facing our planet. Algal R&D has already in the past provided step changes in both disciplines (c.f. Section 1.1), and has the potential to accelerate the needed progress. Evolution has led to immense diversity across all kingdoms of life, providing a cornucopia of bio-active molecules, enzymes, pathways and traits that are all targets for potential biotechnological applications. In this diversity across all forms of life, both animals and land plants occupy a rather narrow phylogenetic space (c.f. Fig. 4.1). Algae, however, are represented in almost all domains of life, and therefore collectively provide a truly staggering richness of diversity – a resource that as yet has hardly been used. The following paragraphs will outline how algal R&D – by tapping into and developing this resource – may contribute to solving major challenges, such as security of food, energy and materials, and benefit the progress of biological and biotechnological disciplines in general. Many aspects of this have also been discussed in detail in the European Science Foundation Marine Board Position Paper 15 “Marine Biotechnology: A New Vision and Strategy for Europe” (September 2010)121

.

119 Following the definition of RE Lee (Phycology, 2008, Cambridge University Press, p.3), the term ‘algae’ in this report is used to refer to both macro- and microalgae, with the latter including prokaryotic algae (cyanobacteria). Purple photosynthetic bacteria, which are anoxygenic, are not included. 120 available at www.nnfcc.co.uk/tools/assessing-the-potential-for-algae-in-the-uk 121 The full report, as well executive summary and recommendations, are available at www.esf.org/research-areas/marine-sciences/marine-board-working-groups/marine-biotechnology.html

40

Fig. 4.1: Phylogenetic tree highlighting the diversity and distribution of algae (boxed groups; colours indicate the diversity of pigmentation) across the domains of life122

. For comparison animals and land plants are encircled in red and green, respectively.

4.1 Science Underpinning Food Security In addition to algae playing an increasing role as food (especially protein- and mineral-rich animal feed in aquaculture and beyond), much can be learnt from studying algae that will be of benefit to crop science generally. Some examples are given in the sections below. 4.1.1 Tolerance to Extreme Conditions Algae can be found in any imaginable habitat, and have evolved mechanisms with which to withstand extremes of temperature, irradiation, drought and salinity. With the increasing ease and speed of genome sequencing, this rich, as yet hardly tapped resource of genetic diversity can be mined for novel enzymes that are involved in conferring such tolerance and adaptability. Indeed, Monsanto Company through partnership with Sapphire Energy Inc. already runs such an algal genome mining programme123. Enzymes that are found to be effective for desired traits, e.g. increased salt / heat / drought tolerance or cryo-protection, may be transferred into crop plants to reduce risk of crop failure and maintain the usefulness of arable land which might otherwise be rendered useless by the effects of climate change. As metabolomic technologies and microfluidic124

cultivation and selection systems for algae mature, similar mining may be carried out on algal metabolomes, and pathways for desired metabolites may be transferred into conventional crop plants.

122 adapted from http://www.keweenawalgae.mtu.edu/, with kind permission of Jason Oyadomari 123 c.f. http://monsanto.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=43&item=934, and www.nature.com/nbt/journal/v29/n6/pdf/nbt0611-473b.pdf 124 c.f. work of the Microfluidics Group at Cambridge and Imperial College, and of their spin-out company Sphere Fluidics Ltd

41

4.1.2 Desired Food Products Long-chain poly-unsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) are a well-known example of an important class of nutraceuticals that we currently derive from a diet of oily fish, or via fish oil capsules, but which originate from algae at the beginning of the marine food chain. The elucidation of the biosynthesis pathways has made it possible e.g. for the group of Johnathan Napier at Rothamsted to introduce enzymes for PUFA synthesis into conventional oil crops, thereby paving the way for mass-production of vegetable oils with additional health benefits (Venegas-Caleron et al. 2010). Similar approaches could be taken for other valuable algal metabolites (e.g. other oils, vitamins (such as Vitamin B12, especially beneficial for vegetarians), antioxidants, pigments), or the unusual starch structure found in green algae (Hicks et al. 2001), which may influence digestibility and food processing properties such as gelling.

4.2 Science Underpinning Energy Security Algae are hotly pursued as a feedstock for bioenergy – be it for their biomass or as self-repairing “solar panels” in biophotovoltaic cells (Adrian Fisher et al., Cambridge) – but their usefulness for underpinning energy security extends further than this: the field of artificial photosynthesis draws heavily on the rich design spectrum of light harvesting solutions that exist in pro- and eukaryotic algae, learning from the principles of nature and using them as starting points for biomimetic systems. This also applies to the use of algal – especially cyanobacterial – enzymes as a blueprint for solar H2 production and CO2 reduction (Erwin Reisner, Cambridge)125. UK centres of activity that drive forward the development of artificial photosynthesis include Glasgow (Richard Cogdell et al.), Queen Mary, University of London (Steve Dunn, Jon Nield, et al.), Imperial College (Peter Nixon, James Durrent et al.126), Sheffield (Neil Hunter et al.)127, and the SolarCAP consortium (UEA, Manchester, Nottingham, York)128

. This diversity of algal light harvesting systems is also the basis for the engineering of improved photosynthetic organisms that will use the entire visible spectrum (‘black is the new green’ – pers. comm. Chris Howe / Saul Purton). Furthermore, algal synthetic biology could be used to produce desired high-spec biofuel molecules (see below under ‘Benefits for biotechnology’).

4.3 Science Underpinning Material Security While each individual algal species needs to keep its genome comparatively lean, the large number of algal species, coupled with their distribution over most of the phylogenetic tree of life (c.f. Fig. 4.1), means that collectively they display enormous metabolic versatility. This versatility can not only be mined for novel chemicals (platform chemicals, precursors for plastics, pharmaceuticals), which could either be harvested in algae or transferred into bacterial or plant systems, but can also inform material science: diatoms, for example, have evolved the ability to lay down the most intricate silicate nanostructures in 3D, whereas nanoscientists are currently only able to manufacture 2D structures. This is being researched by Thomas Mock (UEA), and has attracted considerable interest from the computer industry. Diatom nanostructures also have the potential to be adapted as slow-release nanocapsules for pharmaceuticals. As with Energy Security, desired platform molecules could be produced through algal synthetic biology (see below under ‘Benefits for Biotechnology’). 4.4 Benefits for Biotechnology 4.4.1 Synthetic Biology Turning living cells into factories to produce whatever compound is required has been a major target of biotechnology, and sophisticated approaches exist to accomplish this for bacterial and yeast systems; for more demanding applications, plant, insect and mammalian cell cultures are available at considerably higher cost. Algae are now being developed as

125 This is also being researched e.g. by the Center for Bio-Inspired Solar Fuel Production at Arizona State University: http://science.energy.gov/bes/efrc/centers/cbisfp/, one of the 46 Energy Frontier Research Centers funded through the US DoE. 126 c.f. www3.imperial.ac.uk/solar/people 127 This is also being researched e.g. by the Photosynthetic Antenna Research Center (led by R. Blankenship, St Louis, Missouri: http://science.energy.gov/bes/efrc/centers/parc/), one of the 46 Energy Frontier Research Centers funded through the US DoE. The Universities of Glasgow and Sheffield are partners in the Center. 128 www.solarcap.org.uk/

42

‘green yeast’, offering a considerable versatility which complements existing systems: for example, they are able to grow autotrophically (in either freshwater or marine conditions), and can overexpress e.g. plant secondary metabolites, as well as proteins, at high levels. Furthermore, the option exists to locate genes for the target proteins either in the chloroplast, hence mimicking a prokaryotic expression system (while achieving high yields and high solubility of protein products), or in the nucleus, hence following a eukaryotic expression path129

. The existence of a vacuole offers the option for compartmentalised storage; secretion pathways into the medium can also be exploited.

As platforms for synthetic biology, microalgae offer particular advantages compared to terrestrial plants, such as fast growth (growth rates can be >10 times greater than terrestrial plants), short life cycles, increased tractability, comparative ease and low cost of culturing, and small size, all of which facilitate high-throughput screening. An algal industrial biotechnology platform could therefore become a “disruptive technology for plant sciences, and a [..] step to enable synthetic biology approaches to be established and used in other plants and crops”130

.

Algae have the additional advantage of being ‘naïve hosts’, where host species can be chosen that demonstrate minimal interference with inserted pathways. The first stage of algal synthetic biology – using conventional vectors – is already being commercially exploited e.g. to develop edible vaccines (by e.g. Phycotransgenics LLC, Worthington, OH / Richard Sayre). However, much more sophisticated systems are being developed according to a building-brick principle, where a suite of enhancers, silencers, promoters, targeting sequences, tags, resistance cassettes, etc are equipped with standard cloning sites to enable mixing and matching of desired features around the gene of interest. Potential applications of this technology are very broad and far-reaching indeed. 4.4.2 Biomimetic Catalytic Systems As described in Section 4.2, the richness of algal diversity (e.g. use of wide range of substrates; unusual chemical conversions of metabolites) can be exploited through biomimetic systems. The key catalytic features of novel algal enzymes, which may be prohibitively expensive or difficult to express for industrial applications, can be identified and copied by chemical approaches (c.f. work of Erwin Reisner, Cambridge). 4.4.3 Algal Transformation Systems Model organisms such as the cyanobacterium Synechocystis, the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii and the diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum are comparatively easily transformed (Walker et al. 2005), and results are achieved orders of magnitude faster than for transformations in higher plants. This can be exploited to screen transformation targets for interesting effects before embarking on laborious transformations in higher plants (c.f. Section 3.4.1). Work on this in the UK is, amongst others, being carried out by Plymouth Marine Laboratory, who have developed efficient transformation systems for a commercially significant cyanobacterial strain as part of their algal biorefinery project (Farnham et al., 2011, in preparation)131

.

4.4.4 Environmental Applications Algal systems to treat nutrient-rich waste water streams and soils contaminated e.g. with heavy metals and toxic hydrocarbons already exist (e.g. Oswald's (Berkeley) microalgae-based Advanced Integrated Ponding System for sewage treatment (Green et al. 1996); and the algal turf scrubber132

), but the potential to develop much more sophisticated remediation services exists e.g. for integration in the built environment. Furthermore, algal metabolism may be put to use in algal sensors detecting pollutants.

In terms of greenhouse gas mitigation, algal biomass is already being used to scrub CO2 and NOx from flue gasses; mostly this results in cycling rather than sequestration of CO2. However, coccolithophores such as Emiliania huxleyii form calcified shells that provide a mechanism for CO2 capture and storage; especially in the context of an integrated biorefinery. This potential could be amplified to provide an additional option alongside conventional CCS.

129 It still remains to be established how similar glycosylation pattern in algae are to those in mammalian cells (pers. comm., Christoph Griesbeck and Saul Purton) 130c.f. meeting report of SPPI-Net Algal Synthetic Biology Workshop on 24 March 2011, available at www.sppi-net.org/downloads/AlgalSyntheticBiologyWorkshop0411.pdf 131output of TSB Technology Programme: Collaborative Research & Development, Autumn 2007 “Biorefinery carbon capture and conversion into industrial feedstocks as direct replacements for petrochemicals. (CCIF). S. Skill (PI) 132 www.algalturfscrubber.com

43

4.5 Benefits for Animal Science and Health The structures of human cilium and the flagellum of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii are virtually identical, C. reinhardtii has served for many years as the premier model system for molecular-genetic and biochemical studies of cilia/flagellar biogenesis and function (Silflow and Lefebvre 2001). This is of relevance to many human diseases where defects in cilia are involved, such as lung and kidney diseases, eye problems and infertility (Pan 2008).

As has already been suggested in the preceding paragraphs, the diversity of algal proteomes and metabolomes can be mined for novel antibiotics and other pharmaceuticals. Algae are already being developed as expression platforms for drug molecules such as edible vaccines (c.f. Section 4.4.1), and with the onset of algal synthetic biology not only protein-based pharmaceuticals, but also secondary metabolites from other organisms can be expressed in algal chasses. While algae may not always be the expression system of choice, they add a valuable new component to the range of options. In some cases they might be the most cost effective solution; in other cases they may add benefits over chemical synthesis (such as selectivity for the naturally occurring, most efficacious stereoisomer) which may justify potentially higher costs compared to conventional production. 4.6 Benefits for Fundamental Science Algae have served as a platform for elucidating processes that underpin our fundamental understanding of living beings for many decades (c.f. Section 1.1.1), and continue to play an important role in this field; examples include: 4.6.1 Understanding Evolution Algae are absolutely essential to understanding plant evolution: the leap from prokaryote to eukaryote can be studied by comparing cyanobacteria with unicellular eukaryotic algae. This includes the field of multiple endosymbioses, evidenced by chloroplasts with multiple membranes and nucleomorphs (Larkum et al. 2007)133

.

Algae also shed light on the evolution of multicellularity, as demonstrated by intermediates between unicellular microalgae and multicellular macroalgae (e.g. communicating colonies like Volvox). Furthermore, they provide us with insights into the development of symbioses (e.g. interdependency that obtain micronutrients such as Fe or Vitamin B12 from bacterial symbionts, which in return benefit from fixed carbon) and horizontal gene transfer (e.g. in the chlorarachinophyte Bigelowiella natans (Raymond and Blankenship 2003)). 4.6.2 General Fundamental Science From the comparison of unicellular photosynthetic pro- and eukaryotes information can also be derived about functional diversity in general (e.g. the diversity of approaches to light harvesting (Boichenko 2004; Neilson and Durnford 2010) and to carbon storage molecules134

), and conversely about the diversity of ways in which the same function can be achieved (different electron carriers, and different charge patterns on electron transfer proteins leading to similar photosynthetic turnover; (Bendall et al. 2011)).

Furthermore, important functional genomics tools like RNAi have been developed – spearheaded by UK scientists such as David Baulcombe – for the model alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii to study the fundamentals of cell biology (Schroda 2006; Molnar et al. 2009; Zhao et al. 2009; Godman et al. 2010).135

133 It is interesting to note that all eukaryotic algae outside the green and red algae (e.g. diatoms, kelps) are the result of a secondary endosymbiotic acquisition of a eukaryotic alga. 134 Lee RE (2008): Phycology, Cambridge University Press; pp. 20-23 135 Tools like RNAi will also be invaluable in developing algae for the applications in food, energy and materials.

44

4.7 Conclusions The examples given above provide a flavour of the potential that algal research has to benefit the progress of plant science and biotechnology, both in terms of fundamental / blue sky research, and addressing urgent issues such as food, energy and material security. The as-yet hardly tapped, rich resource of algal diversity has the potential to become a major contributor to underpin the development of a bio-based economy in the UK. To realise this potential, however, algae will need the same genomic resources as other crops: full and fully annotated genome sequences, functional genomics and links with expression profiling, metabolic profiling, epigenome profiling, understanding of natural variation, RNAi knock down collections for the whole genome in selected species, and insertion mutant collections. In effect, algal improvement programmes would need to be developed in parallel to the improvement programmes in terrestrial crops. Both the expertise and the will exists in the UK to develop the majority of the opportunities shown in this chapter; some examples of UK researchers already pursuing relevant work have been given, and many more names could be added (c.f. expertise showcased in Section 1.2). The next chapter will address how algal research in the UK may capitalise fully on these strengths, and stay competitive in a well populated and rapidly moving international field.

45

5. STRENGTHS OF UK RESEARCH CAPABILITY ON THE GLOBAL ALGAE STAGE In a globalised society, capabilities that exist on a national level need to be assessed in the light of activities on the international stage. Looking at this bigger picture makes it possible to determine where the UK expertise can achieve the highest impact, and highlights the challenges associated with staying internationally competitive. This chapter gives a high-level overview of the strengths of current algal research capability in the UK, identifies overlaps with expertise internationally (and competition arising), assesses knowledge gaps and draws out key contributions the UK could make on the global algal stage. 5.1 Overview of UK Strengths and Outline SWOT Analysis As the results of the survey in section 1.2 have highlighted, academia in the UK has great expertise in the environmental and ecological sectors for both micro- and macroalgae, especially (but not exclusively) in the marine sector. Fundamental biology is also a key strength; major breakthroughs in photosynthesis research have been made in the UK, and a wealth of experience exists in taxonomy, physiology, metabolism and biochemistry of algae. The latter two are now increasingly being employed in biotechnological contexts, with high relevance to underpinning a bio-based economy (c.f. examples in Chapter 4). In general, the UK benefits from an enormous breadth of expertise that is of relevance to algae, but struggles to capitalise on this since the relevant researchers belong to different communities, which traditionally have not been in active dialogue. The UK algal culture collections are also internationally leading136, and are complemented by the database AlgaeVision at the Natural History Museum137

.

In terms of industrial activity (c.f. Section 1.3), the UK has contributed to major breakthroughs in applied biology and engineering, which have now been adopted by international players such as Martek Biosciences Corporation, and both academia and industry are actively involved in PBR design and integrated systems for producing algal biomass (e.g. PML, Universities of Newcastle, Swansea and Cranfield; Varicon Aqua Solutions Ltd, PBR-UK, Merlin BioDevelopments Ltd, Scottish Bioenergy Ltd). While it is essential to be fully aware of the strengths the UK has to offer, in order to draw informed conclusions it is also valuable to put them in the context of known weaknesses of the general UK set-up, and to be mindful of both opportunities and threats associated with algal research in the UK. To facilitate this process, an outline SWOT analysis is given in Table 5.1. More detail has already been given in Chapter 4 on the range of opportunities for progressing plant sciences and biotechnology in general through algal research. The high level overview given in Table 5.1 has also been informed by the responses to the question concerning challenges and opportunities for algal research on a 5 / 10 / 25 year timescale, which was part of the questionnaire described in Section 1.2 and Tables C.4.1/2/3. Further discussion relating to opportunities and threats at European level for marine algae can be found in the European Science Foundation Marine Board Position Paper 15 “Marine Biotechnology: A New Vision and Strategy for Europe” (September 2010)138

.

136 www.CCAP.ac.uk; www.mba.ac.uk/culturecollection.php 137 http://www.nhm.ac.uk/research-curation/research/projects/algaevision/index.html 138 The full report, as well executive summary and recommendations, is available at: http://www.esf.org/research-areas/marine-sciences/marine-board-working-groups/marine-biotechnology.html

46

Table 5.1: Outline SWOT analysis of algal research in the UK (informed by questionnaire responses, c.f. Section 1.2)

Strengths • Ecological / environmental R&D, especially marine,

impacts of climate change • Fundamental biological R&D: photosynthesis,

physiology, phylogeny, taxonomy, whole organism biology, biochemistry, systems/molecular/microbiology, biotechnology

• Strong Omics infrastructure • Diversity of research base • International lead on algal culture collections • Focus on integrated systems in applications

Weaknesses • Lack of cohesion between the constituent research

communities • Small number of people with combined engineering

and biological expertise139

• Decline in freshwater expertise

• In common with other scientific endeavours: • Less flexible in responding to new opportunities than

US / BRIC countries • Comparatively poor track record of successful

commercialisation of R&D outputs, compared e.g. to US

Opportunities140

• Use environmental expertise to forecast environmental consequences of large-scale algal growth, and to develop algae as bio-indicators for environmental change / impact

• Improve reliability and uptake of modelling and LCA through improved datasets, to pre-empt expensive mistakes and accelerate progress

• Rising oil prices and potential breakthroughs in low cost, sustainable integrated algal production / biorefining at scale may make algal bioenergy (and other bulk products) commercially viable

• Increase sustainability of CO2/heat/waste water producing industries and aquaculture through integrated algal growth systems and bioremediation

• Use expertise to develop algae as industrial biotechnology platform with increasing number and diversity of model systems, making use of novel approaches such as epigenetics

• Develop novel products from bioprospecting and mining of growing body of Omics data

• Exploit benefits if coordinated interdisciplinary work, if UK research community can be united

• Increase collaboration on international scale, access international funding

Threats139

• Loss of lead in current strengths due to being diluted / crowded out by well-funded international competition (especially US and BRIC countries; loss of funding for the Carbon Trust ABC is an example of how expertise and momentum is being wasted through lack of support)

• Loss of expertise: through staff retiring and insufficient numbers of new people entering the field (especially in traditional disciplines such as taxonomy), and loss of talent to other countries with more funding / more flexibility in commercialisation

• First-rate UK R&D outputs being commercially exploited mainly abroad, with little benefit coming back to UK

• Disappointment of unrealistic expectations may lead to blindness in funding bodies, politicians, business and the public for real opportunities algae offer

5.2 Overlaps with International Activity / Expertise Ecological expertise is shared with some other European players such as Germany (e.g. Alfred Wegener Institute141). The US, Israel and most European countries, notably Germany, Italy, Spain and France also have considerable expertise on photosynthesis and fundamental biology, and often have stronger commercial activities applying the fundamental knowledge to biotechnological applications. Israel has a 30 year track record in algal biotechnology142

139 This is a problem on an international level: it has been highlighted as the second-most critical issue for global algal industries in The Algal Industry Survey 2008 (p.7), available at

. The US is also very active in this area (c.f. examples given in Section 5.3), and the BRIC countries are rapidly catching up.

www.ascension-publishing.com/BIZ/algal-industry-survey.pdf. 140 More details on opportunities and threats (challenges) can be found in Appendix C, Tables C.4.1/2/3. 141 www.awi.de/en/home/ 142 c.f. http://cmsprod.bgu.ac.il/Eng/Units/bidr/Faculty_Members/Boussiba.htm, and Chapter 2

47

Culture collections internationally have a strong history e.g. in Japan (MCC at NIES143; NBRC at NITE144), the US (e.g. UTEX145; CCMP146), Germany (CCAC147, SAG148) and France (PCC at CRBIP149); an overview of international collections can be found at http://www.sbs.utexas.edu/utex/otherResources.aspx.

Leadership in the field of PBR design and biomass growth internationally is shown by e.g. Italy (e.g. Mario Tredici, Florence), Spain (e.g. University of Almeria), Portugal (e.g. Vitor Vieira, Necton / AlgaFuel), Germany (e.g. Otto Pulz, Potsdam), and Israel (e.g. Sammy Boussiba, Ben-Gurion). 5.3 Competition between UK and International Capability All overlaps have the potential to turn into competition. This is less of an issue for ecological and environmental research and fundamental biology, where broadening the knowledge base can increase momentum and produce synergies (although it increases pressure to be the first to publish), and for culture collections, where a certain level of redundancy is essential to avoid contamination or natural disasters in one collection wiping out access to important strains. Competition becomes a threat wherever results can be commercialised. Of the overlaps listed in Section 5.2, competition is particularly a threat to biotechnological RD&D, and especially for high-value applications where algae can be grown in closed, highly controlled systems, since unlike technologies applicable to open systems they can be transferred to virtually any location. There is considerable activity especially in the US to develop algae as a biotechnological platform; not only Craig Venter’s company Synthetic Genomics Inc., but also companies like Solazyme Inc., Sapphire Energy Inc. and Joule Biotechnologies Inc. on the energy side have an active interest in employing genetically modified algae. The San Diego Center for Algae Biotechnology (c.f. Section 2.2) develops algae not only for bioenergy, but also for expression of therapeutic proteins. Vaccines and other high value products from algae are also being pursued by companies such as PhycoBiologics Inc and Phycotransgenics LLC, both in the US. In Israel, the university spin-out TransAlgae Ltd has been set up as an algal breeding company for a wide spectrum of applications. In the UK, considerable expertise in this area is located within academia (e.g. at UCL, Cambridge, UEA, SAMS, PML), but on a commercial basis only the company Spicer Biotech appears to work in this space.

In addition to the substantial funding that is being poured into this kind of research especially in the US, competition is also increasing from Asia, in particular China, Japan and Korea150

.

5.4 Knowledge Gaps filled by UK Expertise Communication with algal stakeholders has highlighted that – while much work remains to be carried out – not many gaps in expertise exist in the algal field. In addition, the increased global interest in algae, especially through new players from the BRIC countries, and through the large influx of funding in the US, is leading to closure of remaining gaps. Even in its traditional areas of strength, the UK is in danger of being diluted, if not crowded out. The expertise in algal culturing, molecular biology / synthetic biology and on photosynthesis is shared by others who often benefit from stronger funding. Nevertheless, the challenge posed by the world’s need to turn from a petroleum- to a bio-based economy is of such magnitude that parallel research approaches are needed to find solutions on acceptable timescales. This represents a window of opportunity for UK expertise. The high quality of the UK research base in this area, as well as creative approaches characteristic for UK-based scientific excellence, add considerably to the UK’s competitiveness, and need to be fully made use of.

Furthermore, the UK’s ecological expertise is of great value and can help to address e.g. algal diseases / viruses (e.g. through experts at SAMS, PML), and symbioses (e.g. Cambridge, SAMS, UEA). If this expertise can be integrated into budding commercial activities, both nationally and internationally, it can both save costs and contribute to preventing ecological disasters in scale-up of algal growth.

143 http://mcc.nies.go.jp/ 144 www.nbrc.nite.go.jp/e/ 145 www.sbs.utexas.edu/utex 146 https://ccmp.bigelow.org/ 147 www.ccac.uni-koeln.de/ 148 http://epsag.uni-goettingen.de/ 149 http://www.pasteur.fr/ip/easysite/pasteur/fr/recherche/les-collections/crbip/informations-generales-sur-les-collections# 150 Pers. comm. John Day

48

Expertise in the underpinning disciplines of phylogeny and taxonomy, although not unique to the UK, is internationally on the decline, and hence may turn into a gap which the UK would be well placed to fill, provided its own level of national expertise is maintained.

The experience in life cycle analysis (LCA; e.g. Swansea, Imperial, Cambridge, Cranfield) is also of importance globally, since sound LCA is fundamental to any energy application, and highly advisable for other applications. The UK is in a good position to build further capacity to satisfy growing global demand in this area (and also modelling in general, since these approaches – if supported by sound datasets – can replace expensive experiments, allow exploration of a multitude of possible scenarios and thereby accelerate progress151

).

5.5 Key Contributions the UK Could Make The UK could make a number of key contributions to the global algal field. Its strength in environmental and ecological RD&D can be used to forecast environmental consequences of large-scale algal growth. The NERC-TSB Algal Bioenergy Special Interest Group (AB-SIG) in intended to achieve this for the UK context initially, but the reach of the UK expertise could extend further. For commercial applications, especially those culturing algae outdoors, and for low and medium value products, the expertise on algal diseases, predators and symbioses will be of particular value to ensure culture stability and lower the cost of production. Again, unification of the research community will be an essential step, as will making both the commercial world and the international academic arena aware of the value of what it has to offer.

Integration of algal growth with aquaculture promises ecological and economic benefit on a national as well as global level, and the UK research community (especially Swansea, Stirling and the Scottish Aquaculture Research Forum) is well placed to increase sustainability of the aquaculture industry.

With respect to energy applications, the UK could join up with other EU players in LCA (such as KIT, Germany) to improve current methodology, expand the body of data used in LCA, design user-friendly tools and train researchers, so that this highly critical assessment can be used with increased confidence in more and more algal applications. This also extends to the entire field of modelling, which is relevant to a multitude of algal disciplines150.

In the area of culture collections, the UK is expected to continue its lead e.g. in the development of cryopreservation techniques.

Finally, especially in light of the threat from well-funded international competition, the UK should make sure to capitalise on its R&D strengths in genetics, molecular biology and biochemistry to develop algae as an industrial biotechnology platform. This would employ functional genomics, algal breeding, metabolic engineering and synthetic biology, as part of a global effort to transition into a bio-based economy (c.f. Chapter 4). The platform could be developed with the aid of an underpinning infrastructure in Omics, such as TGAC (Norwich) and the Hinxton Campus, and could feed into the developing Technology Innovation Centres (TIC) on High Value Manufacturing, as well as becoming part of the pipeline for any potential future RD&D initiatives on Industrial Biotechnology.

151 c.f. pertinent questionnaire response for challenges on 25 year timescale, Kevin Flynn (Table C.4.3): “Good data sets to support effective modelling - this is a basic and recurrent problem in algal research, one upon which I have written and talked frequently over the 25+ years that I have worked in the subject area. [..] The acid test of our knowledge is whether we can model it properly and thence explore the multitude of possible scenarios which we cannot seriously explore empirically. This is needed for all aspects from ecological biogeochemical work, to commercial exploitation. And that modelling effort is crippled repeatedly by poor and/or inadequate data collection, conducted all too often in unsuitably designed experiments. Unless there is a real drive by people who understand this problem, and the opportunities that exist in solving it, then we will advance nowhere fast and continue to waste resources and time. I have repeated the challenges and opportunities because this is a cyclic problem, as it has been for the last 25+ years.”

49

6. ALGAE RESEARCH VALUE CHAINS IN THE UK – ANALYSIS OF GAPS AND RECOMMENDED ACTIVITIES To increase the impact of algal expertise in the UK, it is important to connect together the various research elements that are needed to progress the outputs of fundamental research onwards into applications. In the UK context, it is helpful to differentiate between two overarching value chains for algal research:

1. fundamental research leading to the development of novel high tech solutions and high value products employing algae, with the end goal of building the next generation of algal technology applications, and

2. further improvement and optimisation of existing applications in order to make them financially viable, more profitable and/or environmentally acceptable.

Considerable expertise exists in the UK that can contribute to both of these value chains. Both in different ways – and with input from different kinds of fundamental research – have potential to underpin the development of a bio-based economy in the UK. This chapter will give an overview of each in turn, indicate current gaps, and make recommendations which will be expanded on in the final two chapters. A more fine-grained indicative analysis of value chains for certain algal products and services (following the categories introduced in Chapter 3) is provided in Appendix D. 6.1 Development of High Tech Solutions and High Value Products Employing Algae By its nature this value chain requires intense, lab-based R&D (Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 1-4) and, although mostly founded in multidisciplinary approaches, tends to produce stand-alone end products (a patented process or physical product). These are often taken to higher TRL levels through spin-out companies from research institutes. Those spin-outs in turn are frequently acquired by larger companies who implement the technology in their operations. The research value chain in this instance would start with fundamental lab work; generation of protected IP that can be sold or licensed could be considered an end point.

All products and applications mentioned in Chapter 4 fall into this category; examples from Industrial Biotechnology include:

Underpinning methodologies that can be patented / licensed: o algal synthetic biology toolkits o algal transformation systems o high-throughput screening technologies for algal bioprospecting (microfluidic cultivation

and selection systems; systems biology / omics service development) Novel products:

o platform chemicals o pharmaceuticals o nutraceuticals o energy products: e.g. algal biophotovoltaics; solar H2 production and CO2 reduction (through

biomimetic catalytic systems, based on algal enzymes) o ecological applications (ecosystem services in the built environment; algal sensors for

pollutants) The indicative list above represents a highly diverse spectrum of approaches, and will need to be driven forward by R&D teams with very different expertise in each case. Indeed, many of these novel approaches (not only the examples above, but all opportunities mentioned in Chapter 4) could develop into full value chains of their own, with the potential to overtake currently identified algal applications in scope and importance. It is outside the remit of this report to review gaps and make recommendations for each of these individually; however, several common features can be drawn out: Gaps and Bottlenecks The UK is fortunate to have a wealth of brilliant algal scientists who have a track record of innovative thinking. Bottlenecks for capitalising on this have included scarcity of strategic funding support and of mechanisms by which researchers can interact with industry in a meaningful way. Such interaction would help to identify pathways of conducting world-class

50

science; science which has outputs that are of high relevance to industry, and hence the potential to identify routes to commercialisation.152

Recommendations The numerous opportunities that exist to build algae as an industrial biotechnology platform could be best assessed and developed in a forum that will bring academics and industry together to discuss the overlap in priorities for R&D for both parties, and that will feed into a strategic funding initiative. In such a forum, it can be discussed and clarified which of the technically feasible and intellectually rewarding projects would provide most benefit in an industrial and economic context. Issues such as the advantages of algal systems over current methods, the best choice of model organisms and the most relevant tools and target molecules can be addressed, leading to research outputs that will have high relevance for industry. A very encouraging start in this direction was made in March 2011, when under the auspices of the Synthetic Plant Products for Industry Network (SPPI-Net), Biosciences KTN facilitated an Algal Synthetic Biology Workshop in London. A group of algal researchers met with industry representatives to discuss the potential of algae as a platform for industrial biotechnology, using synthetic biology approaches; an overview of the outcomes is available at www.sppi-net.org/downloads/AlgalSyntheticBiologyWorkshop0411.pdf. However, discussions – no matter how illuminating – will remain fruitless unless they are accompanied by funding pathways that enable the identified priorities to be translated into successful research projects. BBSRC could best support the field by moving from funding this research through responsive mode only to issuing strategic funding calls for those novel solutions based on algae which have been identified as most promising and strategically important. Such focused funding support could in the first instance be delivered through a call on algal industrial biotechnology (which could be part of a relevant existing Industry Club), or in the future by creating a dedicated Club. Out of constructive dialogue with relevant industries additional opportunities for focused joint work are likely to arise, such as CASE studentships and Industrial Partnership Awards (several indeed already have arisen, and some have received funding from BBSRC). However, relying on those on their own would not give the field the strategic and joined-up push that it requires to be competitive on the international scene.153

6.2 Further Improvement and Optimisation of Existing Applications While the research value chain discussed above largely produces high-tech stand-alone solutions based on algae, this value chain is intimately connected to the scale-up of algal production and hence requires integrated multi-disciplinary work across a spectrum of science and engineering disciplines. Laboratory-based biological and biotechnological work is in most cases still essential; however it needs to be informed by the requirements imposed by the entire pipeline (since improvements in one area may introduce difficulties in another), and needs to develop integrative approaches underpinned by sound LCA and ecological assessments. Most of the products and services described in Chapter 3 belong to this category, including:

base commodities – biomass energy products, bulk animal feed existing high value products – speciality feeds / foods, nutraceuticals, cosmeceuticals bioremediation – waste water clean-up, CO2 / NOx scrubbing

The value chain for all of the above consists of: selection (and/or development) of algal strains and ecologically sensible locations for cultivation, growth of biomass, harvesting, processing, down to distribution, sales and marketing, with refinement of the whole process through iterative life cycle, sustainability and economic assessment. Research in

152 A further bottleneck that is shared with commercialisation of other bioscience outputs is presented by the fact that researchers often are still not too familiar with how to take brilliant ideas, inventions and developments further: starting with appropriate IP protection combined with identifying industries for which the IP is relevant, and then by building teams with the right mix of skills to move to the next stage. An increased awareness among researchers of the relevance of their expertise to commercial applications, and of the opportunities that could arise from taking their research outputs further through development, would accelerate the flow of algal R&D into novel biotechnological applications. Other helpful skills include knowing when to draw in other expertise (e.g. business know-how), and when to let go – understandably scientists who have developed a new process or product tend to be keen to retain control; however, to get to the next level, business and marketing experts increasingly need to be in charge if commercialisation is to be successful. 153 It needs to be stressed that strategic focus, albeit highly important, must not be to the detriment of funding algal blue skies research (which tends to produce the most innovative and ground-breaking solutions; a prominent example is Michael Faraday).

51

fundamental bioscience underpins all aspects of this chain up to distribution; relevant research areas include (for a more fine-grained picture see Appendix D):

- for strain selection and growth: algal breeding, metabolic manipulation through media composition, disease control, symbioses

- for harvesting and processing: biological/biochemical flocculation; cell wall composition / manipulation / degradation; enzymology; biochemical fractionation, separation and purification techniques

- overall: life cycle and sustainability assessment based on sound data; modelling of scenarios

Details of the individual research value chains for base and value added commodities, high value products, bioremediation services and integrative approaches can be found in Appendix D, including an indication of current players and gaps in each case. While details for each of the product groups vary, some gaps and bottlenecks in the research value chain are shared: Gaps and Bottlenecks

A key bottleneck lies in Human Resources: Individuals each of whom understands different sections of the value chain are required, and they are in short supply. Major capacity building is needed especially of scientists who have a sound grasp of both biology and engineering; more extensive integration with ecological expertise would also be helpful. This is a gap on a global level: availability of trained personnel has been highlighted as the second-most critical issue for global algal industries in The Algal Industry Survey 2008154

Furthermore, the field would greatly benefit from an increased body of solid data that can feed into modelling approaches, especially the all-important life cycle and sustainability analyses.

.

The final major bottleneck is the provision of funding opportunities that encourage researchers to collaborate and develop synergies between their research activities under the umbrella of a strategic research agenda. While pockets of funding are accessible to algal researchers, they are not joined up and do not provide strategic direction. Funding has been withdrawn from the one initiative that had endeavoured to provide strategic leadership (although the direction had been questioned by several stakeholders), the Carbon Trust ABC (c.f. Section 1.2.3.8). Recommendations

To address the bottlenecks mentioned above, it is highly recommended that BBSRC together with other Research Councils and funding bodies like TSB, and in consultation with academia and industry, develop a joined-up strategy for algal value chains in the UK. This would need to be followed up with integrated funding appropriate to the various bodies involved. Only a cohesive strategic approach with appropriate funding will ensure that the algal research strengths, which the UK undoubtedly possesses, will be counted on the international stage, and that the benefit of this expertise will be felt in the UK directly through underpinning the development of a national bio-based economy. Strategic funding should include a cross-council Graduate Training Programme to build capacity in graduates and post-docs with a sound understanding of the biological, engineering and environmental challenges that are so crucial for successful commercialisation of algal technologies. Another priority area should be the establishment of a peer-reviewed, open access database for information to feed into life cycle and sustainability analyses and modelling studies. 6.3 Summary Both research value chains discussed above build on biological R&D strengths in the UK, and in different ways have potential to underpin the development of a bio-based economy. The development of stand-alone novel solutions based on algal biology, such as the examples from Industrial Biotechnology referred to in Section 6.1, can be supported by BBSRC directly through strategic funding calls and in the context of Industry Clubs. Cooperation with other funding bodies that have overlapping interests would further add value and momentum. The optimisation of integrated algal solutions for eventual production of base commodities, high value products and adoption of bioremediation services at scale also encompasses many aspects of fundamental biological research that falls under the remit of BBSRC. Funding initiatives for this value chain would best be delivered under a national strategy for algae, which builds on the strengths of the UK and joins up the RD&D outputs across disciplines and technology readiness levels along the entire pipeline.

154 available at www.ascension-publishing.com/BIZ/algal-industry-survey.pdf

52

7. AREAS OF RD&D REQUIRED TO PROMOTE THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN ALGAL ECONOMY As highlighted in previous chapters, algae have considerable potential to contribute to a bio-based economy in the UK: through development of an industrial biotechnology platform which underpins food, energy and material security (c.f. Sections 4.1-4.4 and 6.1), and through integrated biorefining solutions for fuel, feed, (platform) chemicals and bioremediation services (c.f. Sections 6.2 and Appendix D). Algae hence have an important role to play in two of BBSRC’s Priority Areas, Industrial Biotechnology & Bioenergy, and Food Security.

To establish the full extent of these opportunities, and to turn the potential into economic reality, substantial RD&D needs to be carried out for each of the value chains outlined in Chapter 6 / Appendix D. The risks and rewards associated with different aspects of the broad spectrum of RD&D topics vary considerably, as do their importance for progress of the overall field. Assessing which research needs to be carried out, and how risky, rewarding and important it is, will help to form a strategy for algae in the UK. Table 7.1 provides an overview of the RD&D currently needed (informed by the challenges and opportunities given in questionnaire responses, c.f. Section 1.2.2.4 and Appendix C, Tables C.4.1/2/3). The first row refers mainly to the first research value chain described in Chapter 6 (high tech solutions based on algal biology; Section 6.1), subsequent rows relate to the second value chain (optimisation of integrated algal solutions; Section 6.2), with RD&D needs broken down by algal product or service. The levels of risk, reward and importance given are an assessment by the author, informed by general interaction with stakeholders. The indicative information provided in this chapter provides a starting point for further detailed discussions with the academic and industrial algal communities to shape a UK strategy; both the RD&D needs themselves and their assessment may change dramatically as the field moves forward and economic and environmental factors change. For the first research value chain, with a particular focus on developing algae as a platform for industrial biotechnology, highest importance and reward at this stage are attributed to further development of tool kits for algal synthetic biology, and to expanding the evidence base that highlights the advantages of using algal systems instead of those currently employed (c.f. Section 4.4). For the second value chain, further improvement and optimisation of existing applications, highest levels of reward and importance are ascribed to establishing test / pilot / demonstration sites for macro- and microalgal projects, and to capacity building for multidisciplinary work, especially for combined expertise in biology and engineering. Achieving sustained growth of desired strains with stable desired characteristics and optimisation of growth on medium derived from AD liquid digestate were also ranked highly. The INTERREG initiatives BioMara and EnAlgae described in Section 1.2.3 will contribute to addressing these issues, but a much larger coordinated effort across the UK is needed to fulfil the potential algae have to contribute to a sustainable bio-based economy.

Table 7.1: Overview of RD&D needed for algal products and services, including levels of risk, reward and importance; this is indicative rather than definitive; assessment may drastically change as research progresses Topic Algal product /

service RD&D needed155 Risk level Reward

level Importance for field

Industrial biotechnology platform

Pharmaceuticals,platform chemicals

- identification of molecules of interest already made by known algae - bioprospecting and mining of Omics data for new molecules - expanding the evidence base highlighting the advantages of algal systems rather than bacterial / yeast / plant / insect / mammalian cell systems (functional, economic, life cycle analyses) - further develop tool kits for algal synthetic biology and stain improvement (broader base of model organisms, trans-formation protocols, fully annotated genome sequences, functional genomics, expression/metabolic/epigenome profiling)

low high high medium

medium medium-high medium-high medium-high

medium-high medium-high HIGH HIGH

155 Further details on RD&D needs can be found in Appendix C, Tables C.4.1/2/3 (questionnaire responses to challenges on 5, 10, 25 year timespan)

53

Topic Algal product RD&D needed Risk Reward Importance Biomass production

(applicable to all of the below)

fundamental and applied science: - sustained growth of desired strains with stable desired characteristics, incl. control of diseases and grazers (underpins everything) - strain selection, cultivation, harvesting, processing: entire pipeline for micro- and macroalgae associated needs / complementary optimisation tools / studies: - clarify production potential of the UK - microalgae: clear cost-benefit analysis and LCA of open vs closed growth - macroalgae: clarify the potential for off-shore farming integrated with wind farms - capacity building for multidisciplinary work, especially for combined expertise in biology and engineering - test / pilot / demonstration sites - sound data to underpin LCA& modelling - prioritisation of land and end uses - public perception

medium low-medium medium medium high low medium low medium medium-high

high high high high high HIGH HIGH high high medium

HIGH HIGH high high medium-high HIGH HIGH high medium medium

Bioenergy Bioalcohols - pretreatments - microbial fermentations (biology) - compatibility with existing infrastructure

medium medium low

high medium high

medium medium low

Biodiesel / -kerosene

- sustained growth at high oil levels - low energy harvesting and extraction - hydrocarbons instead of TAGs

high high medium-high

HIGH high high

high HIGH medium

Biomethane - fermentability of algae - optimisation of growth on medium derived from AD liquid digestate

low low

medium HIGH

medium HIGH

Thermochemical conversion products

- optimisation of energy return medium medium low

Food / nutraceuticals/ cosmeceuticals

Whole algal biomass, pigments, PUFAs, novel products

- lowering cost of production - integration with other industrial processes - influence / co-develop regulatory framework - bioprospecting for novel products

medium medium medium high

high high high medium-high

high HIGH high medium-high

Animal feed Replacement for fish- / soymeal; aquaculture feed

- as above - clarification of UK potential for production, on-farm integrated systems

medium

high

medium

Bioremediation Waste water treatment

- sound LCA - engineering and biology expertise in LINK-type programmes with the water industry, and other industries producing nutrient rich waste waters / run-offs

low low

high high

high high

CO2 / NOx scrubbing

- integration of algal growth with CO2 producing industries - testing coccolithophores for carbon sequestration

medium low

high high

HIGH medium

Integrated biorefinery

Protein, carbohydrates, oils, metabolites

- integrated growth - low cost fractionation techniques - economics - sound LCA

medium medium-high medium low

high high high high

HIGH medium high high

54

Priority Areas of Development to Benefit the UK Economy To capitalise on the strengths in world-class biological R&D the UK possesses, and to build a high-tech innovation cluster that will underpin the establishment of a bio-based economy, algae should be developed as an industrial biotechnology platform. Such a platform will serve to overexpress proteins and metabolites for chemical and pharmaceutical applications. Its development needs to be accompanied by mining the vast diversity of algae for useful traits, enzymes and metabolites through bioprospecting, and by crop improvement programmes for algae: this will underpin food and material security as described in Chapter 4, and is expected to lead to the discovery of novel bio-actives and pharmaceuticals. The second value chain introduced in Chapter 6 (i.e. further improvement and optimisation of existing applications) also has potential to benefit the UK economy. In addition to improving the as yet unfavourable economics of algal bioenergy and bulk products, high priority should be assigned to realising the full potential of algae to contribute to high value food/feed production and integrated bioremediation: particularly useful areas include algal growth as part of integrated aquaculture, as well as the use of AD liquid digestate as nutrient feedstock – wherever possible in conjunction with CO2 and NOx scrubbing from flue gasses. The most appropriate use of the biomass created in these integrated applications would be, regulation permitting, as animal feed to replace fish meal, or fertiliser. If regulatory frameworks do not permit these uses, the biomass can be used as feedstock for AD (although implications for end use of AD byproducts would need to be considered). In the medium and long terms, the output of both value chains should converge in the concept of an integrated biorefinery, where algal biomass – dedicated crops and/or residual biomass after extraction of high value compounds from industrial biotechnology approaches – would be fractionated into its useful components. Theoretically these comprise protein for food or feed, carbohydrates as feedstocks for biopolymers or bioalcohols, lipids for food, feed, oleochemicals or biodiesel, and potentially metabolites for chemical applications. Caveats include that only a subset of end uses will be appropriate for any given feedstock, and that all developments need to be underpinned by sound life cycle and sustainability analyses. With these in place, however, algae can be developed into a highly versatile branch of the bio-based economy.

55

8. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

BBSRC commissioned this study because it wishes to understand whether it should address fundamental research into the biology of algae in the context of a feedstock for energy and other products, and if so, how. To facilitate this, the study in Part I has taken stock of current and past algae-related activity in the UK (Chapter 1), given an overview of algal interests globally (Chapter 2), and reviewed markets for algal products and services (Chapter 3). Part II has built on this information to analyse how the UK can best capitalise on its strengths in the light of current and emerging opportunities for algal R&D, and in the context of international competition. It has firstly reviewed potential opportunities for algal R&D to underpin food, energy and material security, and progress biotechnology (Chapter 4), and then assessed the strengths of the UK research capability on the global algae stage (Chapter 5). Gaps in algal research value chains in the UK have been analysed (Chapter 6), and levels of risk, reward and importance of areas of RD&D required to promote the development of an algal economy have been assessed (Chapter 7). In this final chapter the outcomes of the current study will be compared to a previous report from 2009, entitled ‘Assessing the Potential for Algae in the UK’156

; progress against the recommendations of this report will be considered, and further recommendations will be made.

8.1 DECC Algal Stakeholder Meeting in November 2009 As indicated, this study follows on from a report155 on the outcomes of an algal stakeholder meeting called by DECC and facilitated through NNFCC on 12 November 2009. The event aimed “to establish the potential for the UK in algae and to determine how this area could progress forward”157. The report made the following key recommendations158

:

a. The UK needs to develop a focused and integrated approach to algae. b. Algal production should follow integrated approaches and be developed in demonstration projects. c. High value products from algae, especially in the context of integrated biorefining, should have higher priority

than fuel production. d. The UK has world-class algal expertise which has suffered from scarce and disperse funding; strategic and linked-

up funding packages with industry input are required to move forward. It concluded with three principal take-home messages: “for both macro and microalgae –

1) There is a need for a central co-ordination point. 2) There is a need for co-ordinated funding for R&D. 3) There is a need for demonstration projects.”156

8.2 What Has Changed since 2009? While the input data to this study (collected in early 2011) is more extensive, the outcomes reported here are in general agreement with the observations made in the DECC report. In the intervening 1.5 years since the stakeholder meeting progress has been made in some areas; in many others the situation has deteriorated. Concerning point 1 (and a.) above, the research community – according to stakeholder responses – still sees itself as fragmented and lacking impetus. Initiatives like BioMara, EnAlgae, the Carbon Trust ABC (c.f. Section 1.2.3) and – more informally – the SPPI-Net working group on algae159

156 The report can be downloaded from

have begun to draw together sub-groups across disciplines and universities as well as businesses, with promising initial results. The NERC-TSB Algal Bioenergy Special Interest Group (AB-SIG) is intended to provide this “centralised point for strategy development, dissemination, information on funded

http://www.nnfcc.co.uk/tools/assessing-the-potential-for-algae-in-the-uk 157 ibid p. 7 158 summarised from ibid p. 3 159 c.f. meeting report of SPPI-Net Algal Synthetic Biology Workshop on 24 March 2011, available at www.sppi-net.org/downloads/AlgalSyntheticBiologyWorkshop0411.pdf

56

projects and activity coordination”160

, but funding for the Director (0.2 FTE) and the three research fellows (together 2.5 FTE) is only secured for two years. This initiative is an excellent start, and likely to make a significant impact. If the momentum is to be maintained, if is essential that follow-up funding (certainly for the strategic leadership aspects of the project) is secured, and preferably at increased levels; the challenge of high-level coordination cannot be met appropriately with a 0.2 FTE appointment. The information provided on funded projects in Appendix A and the overview of UK expertise in Chapter 1 of this study aims to aid in developing the centralised overview needed for strategy development. BBSRC may consider planning a further stakeholder engagement workshop to follow on from this study, in collaboration with the AB-SIG, to increase momentum and cohesion in the algal research community, and to shape strategy.

Concerning point 2 (and d.) above, the situation has worsened since 2009. The withdrawal of funding from the Carbon Trust ABC161 in April 2011 has been a blow not only to the 12 research teams involved, but also to the reputation of the UK internationally, since this project had been portrayed as the UK flagship for applied algal RD&D. As the 2009 DECC report stated, “A combination of lack of leadership, focus and clear policy objectives has resulted in the UK missing opportunities in algae development and it is clear the UK is now lagging behind other countries, most notably the USA”159. This gap has widened in the intervening time. Even during the US recession, the US Department of Energy in June 2010 awarded $24 million to three research consortia to address the existing difficulties in the commercialisation of algal-based biofuels162. Synergistic funding is also being provided at a state level: e.g. in Sept 2010, the governor of Arizona announced a $2 million investment in the Arizona Center for Algae Technology and Innovation (AzCATI163

). In addition, further competition has arisen from BRIC countries who invest heavily into applied algal RD&D. It has to be recognised that the gap will grow to unsustainable levels unless steps are taken to mitigate the recent loss of funding.

Concerning point 3 (and b./c.) above, BioMara and EnAlgae (c.f. Section 1.2.3) are starting to provide some test facilities, and companies such as PML Applications Ltd, Scottish Bioenergy Ltd and Merlin BioDevelopments Ltd (on microalgae), and the Crown Estate (on macroalgae), are investigating the scaling up of algal growth in a UK context. However, a higher density of pilot and demonstration sites – established in close collaboration with industry, and embedded in industrial activity – for the entire spectrum of integrative growth approaches and end uses would be desirable. 8.3 What Next? In commissioning this study, BBSRC wished to understand whether it should address fundamental research into the biology of algae in the context of a feedstock for energy and other products, and, if yes, how to do so. Based on the analysis of previous chapters, this section presents scenarios for future action BBSRC may wish to take. 8.3.1 Status Quo In parallel with other Research Councils, BBSRC already funds algal research as part of its responsive mode (c.f. Section 1.2.2.3). If no particular action was to be taken, some high quality algal research funded under the existing mechanism will still be carried out; however, the outputs will lack strategic direction. Since no centralised pipeline for pull-through into commercial application exists, the benefit of research outputs for developing a bio-based economy in the UK will be limited and largely determined by the connections and commercial awareness of individual Principal Investigators, and the aptitude of Technology Transfer Offices at individual research organisations. Feedback on current developments amongst the research community will largely be limited to presentations at general conferences and personal connections; some facilitated exchange across universities will happen for those who belong to one of the current algal initiatives mentioned in Section 1.2.3. Increase in momentum will be limited, and capacity building will remain slow. The gap between the UK and other key international players in the algal field is likely to increase further, and the UK will sooner or later lose its competitiveness in algal technologies. 160 ibid p. 3 161 www.carbontrust.co.uk/emerging-technologies/current-focus-areas/algae-biofuels-challenge/pages/algae-biofuels-challenge.aspx 162 www1.eere.energy.gov/biomass/news_detail.html?news_id=16122 163 www.azcati.com

57

8.3.2 Strategic BBSRC Funding Of the two research value chains outlined in Chapter 6, the first (high tech solutions based on algal biology, with a particular focus on developing algae as a platform for industrial biotechnology) falls directly within the remit of BBSRC. In the short term, a focused funding call such as a sLoLa could be issued to invite proposals along the lines of the R&D needs outlined for this value chain in Chapters 6 and 7. Industrial involvement in shaping the focus of the call would be highly desirable. The meeting of algal researchers with industry representatives at the SPPI-Net Algal Synthetic Biology Workshop164

in London in March 2011 provided an excellent basis that BBSRC could build on. In the medium and long terms, strategic funding calls on research underpinning the development of an algal industrial biotechnology platform would ideally be part of an Industry Club that also draws in other councils and funders. This would ensure interdisciplinary connectivity and ongoing relevance of the world-class research to industrial developments, and provide a pipeline for licensing and commercialising research outputs.

8.3.3 Cross-Council Strategic Initiative on Algae Sizeable sections of the second research value chain introduced in Chapter 6 (optimisation of integrated algal solutions to improve financial viability and minimise environmental impact) fall within the remit of BBSRC (c.f. Table 7.1). However, close integration with engineering and environmental expertise is needed in order to make meaningful progress across the pipeline as a whole. To develop the algal R&D field as a whole, it is recommended that BBSRC should work with the other Research Councils and the AB-SIG to assess which areas of algal research value chains (and which algal products and services) the UK is best placed to develop, based on its research strengths and on the benefits of research outputs to a bio-based economy in the UK. Leading on from this assessment, the Councils may wish to formulate a strategy for algal R&D in the UK. The identified strategic R&D aims would best be realised by bringing the currently fragmented multidisciplinary algal research community together under the umbrella of a virtual UK Centre of Excellence on Algae, with core funding being provided from across the Councils and Industry. It needs to be stressed that strategic funding should also include unrestricted blue sky research on algae, without which the pipeline of innovative algal solutions is likely to collapse. The Centre could embrace both algal research value chains, and for value chain two, should work closely with a network of industry-led pilot and demonstration sites. Such collaborations could be funded through LINK-type projects, and would underpin the optimisation and deployment at increasing scale of those integrated algal solutions which the strategy has identified as particularly relevant to the UK. The creation of and support for such a Centre would provide cohesion, focus and momentum for the high quality, but currently disjointed algal research community, would build capacity, and establish a firm foot-hold for UK expertise on the international algal stage. 8.3.4 Strategic Initiative on Algae across Research Councils and Government Departments A cross-council strategy on algae would be a very helpful step, and would lead to co-ordinated funding initiatives with focused, joined-up and industrially relevant research outputs. However, unless those outputs are developed beyond the Technology Readiness Levels that are the remit of the Research Councils, pull-through to commercialisation and consequent benefit for the UK’s emerging bio-economy may be limited. To realise the full potential of algae for the UK economy, a joined-up approach across the Research Councils, TSB and all relevant Government Departments is needed. The Government has highlighted the importance of mechanisms that facilitate the translation of the UK’s research capabilities into economic benefit, and with the initiative to create Technology Innovation Centres has provided a funding mechanism to do so. The Research Councils may want to cooperate in engaging with the relevant Government Departments and TSB to create a national strategy on algae that spans research, development and deployment, and may recommend to the Government the establishment of an algal Technology Innovation Centre. The combination of a strategically funded academic Centre of Excellence which builds on the strengths of the algal research community in the UK with a Technology Innovation Centre that takes step-changing research outputs through to commercial application would provide a complete and strong pipeline. Such a pipeline would guarantee high impact of UK algal research, and would provide direct benefit to the UK by both determining and realising the potential that algae have to contribute to a sustainable bio-based economy.

164 c.f. www.sppi-net.org/downloads/AlgalSyntheticBiologyWorkshop0411.pdf

58

Through smaller-scale initiatives (such as the algal INTERREG programmes BioMara and EnAlgae, and the Carbon Trust ABC (c.f. Section 1.2.3)) that have required collaborative work across research groups and with industrial stakeholders, the algal community has demonstrated an eagerness to overcome its fragmentation. The response of the community to a national strategic initiative on algae is expected to be highly positive, and would put the UK back on the map as a serious international player in this highly competitive field. 8.4 Summary The UK has a wealth of biological expertise to offer to establish algae as part of a bio-based economy, both through high tech approaches to build algae as an industrial biotechnology platform, and by developing algal products and services in the concept of integrated biorefining. This is complemented by extensive ecological expertise that helps to understand and model the role of algae in climate change and develop them as bio-indicators for environmental impact.

This wealth of knowledge has not been made best use of in the UK, for two principal reasons:

1. A lack of integration of the research community across the breadth of relevant disciplines: this needs to be catalysed by providing funding for multidisciplinary research programmes, where possible linked to collaborative demonstration sites with industry.

2. Progress in the field has been seriously hampered by lack of funding. With the withdrawal of funding from the Carbon Trust ABC, this situation has further deteriorated in the last months. The UK is in grave danger of being marginalised on an international scale, since especially the US and BRIC countries have been and are investing heavily in this arena. Unless this situation is remedied, further opportunities will be lost. The quality and size of the knowledge base is likely to diminish through brain-drain to well-funded RD&D activities abroad. It would lead to first-rate UK R&D outputs again165

being commercially exploited mainly abroad, with little benefit coming back, and the UK would be forced to adopt technologies from abroad which could and should have been developed nationally.

The development of a virtual UK Centre of Excellence on Algae would provide cohesion and much needed capacity building in multidisciplinary expertise. Such a centre would need to receive core funding from the Research Councils to support fundamental scientific research, underpinning the development of novel algal products and services. It would work closely with a network of industry-led pilot and demonstration sites on LINK-type projects. These would facilitate the optimisation and deployment of integrated algal solutions at increasing scale. In parallel, the Research Councils may want to recommend to the Government and TSB the establishment of an algal Technology Innovation Centre (TIC). A TIC would provide the pull-through to commercialisation beyond the Technology Readiness Levels which fall under the remit of the Research Councils. The combination of a strategically-funded academic Centre of Excellence that builds on the strengths of the algal research community in the UK with a Technology Innovation Centre that takes step-changing research outputs through to commercial application would provide a complete and strong pipeline. Such a pipeline would guarantee high impact of UK algal research. It would provide direct benefit to the UK by both determining and realising the potential that algae have to contribute to a sustainable bio-based economy: it will in the short to medium term develop tangible solutions, and at the same time ensure that underpinning science is being put in place to address the long term challenges to mankind.

165 The success of e.g. Martek Biosciences Corporation is based on a technology developed by the British company Celsys, now closed

59

REFERENCES FOR ACADEMIC PAPERS Adams, D. and Carr, N. (1981) The developmental biology of heterocyst and akinete formation in cyanobacteria.

Critical Reviews in Microbiology, 9, 45-100. BenAmotz, A. and Levy, Y. (1996) Bioavailability of a natural isomer mixture compared with synthetic all-trans beta-

carotene in human serum. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 63, 729-734. Bendall, D., Schlarb-Ridley, B. and Howe, C.J. (2011) Transient interactions between soluble electron transfer

proteins. The case of plastocyanin and cytochrome f. In Bioenergetic Processes of Cyanobacteria. (Peschek, G. ed.) Springer, in press.

Boichenko, V.A. (2004) Photosynthetic units of phototrophic organisms. Biochemistry-Moscow, 69, 471-484. Brownlee, C. (1986) Cytoplasmic free calcium in growing rhizoids of Fucus serratus. Prog Clin Biol Res, 210, 71-78. Codd, G.A. and Stewart, W.D.P. (1973) Pathways of glycollate metabolism in blue-green-alga Anabaena cylindrica.

Archiv Fur Mikrobiologie, 94, 11-28. Evans, E.H., Cammack, R. and Evans, M.C.W. (1976) Properties of primary electron-acceptor complex of

photosystem I in blue-green alga Chlorogloea fritschii. Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, 68, 1212-1218.

Evans, L.V. and Christie, A.O. (1970) Studies on ship-fouling alga Enteromorpha. 1. Aspects of fine-structure and biochemistry of swimming and newly settled zoospores. Annals of Botany, 34, 451-&.

Fay, P. and Walsby, A.E. (1966) Metabolic activities of isolated heterocysts of blue-green alga Anabaena cylindrica. Nature, 209, 94-95.

Fogg, G.E. and Tun, T. (1958) Photochemical reduction of elementary nitrogen in the blue-green alga Anabaena cylindrica. Biochimica et Biophysica Acta, 30, 209-210.

Fritsch, F.E. (1903) Remarks on the periodical development of the algae in the artificial waters at kew. Annals of Botany, 17, 274-278.

Godman, J.E., Molnar, A., Baulcombe, D.C. and Balk, J. (2010) RNA silencing of hydrogenase(-like) genes and investigation of their physiological roles in the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Biochemical Journal, 431, 345-351.

Green, F.B., Bernstone, L.S., Lundquist, T.J. and Oswald, W.J. (1996) Advanced integrated wastewater pond systems for nitrogen removal. Water Science and Technology, 33, 207-217.

Hall, D.O., Cammack, R. and Rao, K.K. (1971) Role for ferredoxins in origin of life and biological evolution. Nature, 233, 136-138.

Hicks, G.R., Hironaka, C.M., Dauvillee, D., Funke, R.P., D'Hulst, C., Waffenschmidt, S. and Ball, S.G. (2001) When simpler is better. Unicellular green algae for discovering new genes and functions in carbohydrate metabolism. Plant Physiology, 127, 1334-1338.

Hood, W. and Carr, N.G. (1969) Association of NAD and NADP linked glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase in blue-green alga, Anabaena variabilis. Planta, 86, 250-258.

Iwata, S. and Barber, J. (2004) Structure of photosystem II and molecular architecture of the oxygen-evolving centre. Current Opinion in Structural Biology, 14, 447-453.

Kelly, M. and Dworjanyn, S. (2008) The Potential of Marine Biomass for Biofuel: A Feasibility Study with Recommendation for Further Research. The Crown Estate.

Larkum, A.W.D., Lockhart, P.J. and Howe, C.J. (2007) Shopping for plastids. Trends in Plant Science, 12, 189-195. Leadbeater, B. and Dodge, J.D. (1967) An electron microscope study of dinoflagellate flagella. Journal of General

Microbiology, 46, 305-314. Lund, J.W.G. (1942) The marginal algae of certain ponds, with special reference to the bottom deposits. Journal of

Ecology, 30, 245-283. MacRobbie EAC (1969) Ion fluxes to vacuole of Nitella transluceans. Journal of Experimental Botany, 20, 236-256. Manton, I. and Clarke, B. (1950) Electron microscope observations on the spermatozoid of Fucus. Nature, 166, 973-

974. Molnar, A., Bassett, A., Thuenemann, E., Schwach, F., Karkare, S., Ossowski, S., Weigel, D. and Baulcombe, D.

(2009) Highly specific gene silencing by artificial microRNAs in the unicellular alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Plant Journal, 58, 165-174.

Neilson, J.A.D. and Durnford, D.G. (2010) Structural and functional diversification of the light-harvesting complexes in photosynthetic eukaryotes. Photosynthesis Research, 106, 57-71.

60

Neushul, P. (1987) Energy from marine biomass: the historical record. In Seaweed cultivation for renewable resources. (Bird, K.T.a.B., P. H. ed.) Amsterdam: Elsevier, pp. 1-38.

Northcote, D.H., Goulding, K.J. and Horne, R.W. (1958) Chemical composition and structure of the cell wall of Chlorella pyrenoidosa. Biochemical Journal, 70, 391-397.

Nugent, J.H.A., Purton, S., Evans, M. C. W. (2003) Oxygenic photosynthesis in algae and cyanobacteria: electron transfer in photosystems I and II. . In Photosynthesis in Algae: Advances in Photosynthesis and Respiration (Larkum, A.W., Douglas, S., Raven, J. A. ed.) Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers, pp. 133-156.

Nugent, J.H.A., Stewart, A.C. and Evans, M.C.W. (1981) Electron-paramagnetic-res characteristics of oxygen-evolving photosytem-II particles from Phormidium laminosum. Biochimica et Biophysica Acta, 635, 488-497.

Pan, J. (2008) Cilia and ciliopathies: from Chlamydomonas and beyond. Sci China C Life Sci, 51, 479-486. Rao, K.K., Cammack, R., Hall, D.O. and Johnson, C.E. (1971) Mossbauer effect in Scenedesmus and spinach

ferredoxins - mechanism of electron transfer in plant-type iron-sulphur proteins. Biochemical Journal, 122, 257-265.

Raven, J.A. (1967) Light stimulation of active transport in Hydrodictyon africanum. Journal of General Physiology, 50, 1627-1640.

Raymond, J. and Blankenship, R.E. (2003) Horizontal gene transfer in eukaryotic algal evolution. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 100, 7419-7420.

Round, F.E. (1953) An investigation of 2 benthic algal communities in Malham Tarn, Yorkshire. Journal of Ecology, 41, 174-197.

Sargent, J., Eilertsen, H., Falkpetersen, S. and al, e. (1985) Carbon assimilation and lipid production in phytoplankton in northern Norwegian fjords. Marine Biology, 85, 109-116.

Schroda, M. (2006) RNA silencing in Chlamydomonas: mechanisms and tools. Current Genetics, 49, 69-84. Scott, S.A., Davey, M.P., Dennis, J.S., Horst, I., Howe, C.J., Lea-Smith, D.J. and Smith, A.G. (2010) Biodiesel from

algae: challenges and prospects. Current Opinion in Biotechnology, 21, 277-286. Silflow, C.D. and Lefebvre, P.A. (2001) Assembly and motility of eukaryotic cilia and flagella. Lessons from

Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Plant Physiology, 127, 1500-1507. Simpore, J., Kabore, F., Zongo, F., Dansou, D., Bere, A., Pignatelli, S., Biondi, D.M., Ruberto, G. and Musumeci, S.

(2006) Nutrition rehabilitation of undernourished children utilizing Spiruline and Misola. Nutr J, 5, 3. Smith, A. (1973) Synthesis of metabolic intermediates In The Biology of Blue-Green Algae (CARR, N.W.B. ed.) Oxford:

Blackwell, pp. 1-38. Stanley, M., Black, K., Batty, R., Fox, C., Wilson, B., Wilding, T. and Burrows, M. (2008) NERC Proof of Concept Study

for Marine Bioenergy: available from NERC upon request. Stewart, W.D.P. (1962) Fixation of elemental nitrogen by marine blue-green algae. Annals of Botany, 26, 439-445. Talling, J.F. (1970) Generalized and specialized features of phyto plankton as a form of photosynthetic cover. Malek,

Ivan (Chairman). Prediction and Measurement of Photosynthetic Productivity. Symposium. 632p. Illus. Centre for Agricultural Publishing and Documentation: Wageningen, Netherlands, 431-445.

Venegas-Caleron, M., Sayanova, O. and Napier, J.A. (2010) An alternative to fish oils: Metabolic engineering of oil-seed crops to produce omega-3 long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids. Progress in Lipid Research, 49, 108-119.

Walker, F.T. (1954) Distribution of laminariaceae around scotland. Nature, 173, 766-768. Walker, T.L., Collet, C. and Purton, S. (2005) Algal transgenics in the genomic ERA. Journal of Phycology, 41, 1077-

1093. Whittingham, C.P. (1952) Rate of photosynthesis and concentration of carbon dioxide in Chlorella. Nature, 170,

1017-1018. Whitton, B.A. (1965) Extracellular products of blue-green algae. Journal of General Microbiology, 40, 1-11. Young, A.J. (1991) The photoprotective role of carotenoids in higher-plants. Physiologia Plantarum, 83, 702-708. Zhao, T., Wang, W., Bai, X. and Qi, Y.J. (2009) Gene silencing by artificial microRNAs in Chlamydomonas. Plant

Journal, 58, 157-164.

61

APPENDICES Appendix A: List of algal researchers / grantholders with algal keywords, as of 22 December 2010 (electronic .xls copy available on request) Appendix B: Cover Letter and Questionnaire sent to researchers Dear Colleague, As you will know, interest in algal R&D has grown in the last years, both internationally and in the UK. The UK has a strong knowledge base especially in fundamental underpinning research relating to algal biology and ecology, and in the relevant engineering sciences essential for optimised and scaled up growth. However, the research community is both fragmented and poorly supported. This hinders the progress of the field as a whole, and restricts the UK’s competitiveness. There is a recognition within the Research Councils that a more integrated approach needs to be taken to algal research. As a result, BBSRC has commissioned an inventory of the algal community in the UK, with a view to increase the level of information available on the strengths and capabilities of the UK algal community which might in turn lead to research funding, and will create a framework through which the algal community can capitalise on for example European funding opportunities such as EERA (European Energy Research Alliance). This is being carried out in partnership with the NERC/TSB Algal Bioenergy Special Interest Group. Please note that this survey is NOT only aimed at those interested in energy issues, we would like to hear from anyone who has a research interest in algae. An essential starting point is collating a contact list of all algal R&D players, their research interests, and their past and present funders of algal work. The latter information will help the research councils to evaluate the current funding landscape and will aid in targeting any future initiatives appropriately. We have accessed publically available data on grants awarded by the Research Councils and TSB to start this list, but the most reliable information about current expertise and research interests will come from the researchers directly. We would therefore appreciate if you could take the time to complete the brief questionnaire below, so we can make sure we have the most accurate information to feed back to the Research Councils. You may also be aware that the European Project ‘AquaFUELs’ have been collating a directory of Algal Expertise (http://www.eaba-association.eu/dl_misc/indexd1.3.html), and that the European Algal Biomass Association EABA is working on updating and expanding this directory. Unless you object (or are already included), we would also like to make the EABA aware of your expertise. You will have received this email because either a colleague has put you forward, or because you have received a grant by the Research Councils in which algae (pro- or eukaryotic) played a role. Should you feel you have received this in error, since your research interests neither in the past nor present included algae, please accept my apologies, and please let me know so you will not receive any follow-up emails. We would very much appreciate hearing from you by 28 Feb 2011, and look forward to your reply. Please also forward this message to colleagues who may be interested, since our mailing list is unlikely to be comprehensive. Yours sincerely Beatrix Schlarb-Ridley – on behalf of BBSRC Michele Stanley – on behalf of the NERC / TSB Algal Bioenergy Special Interest Group

62

QUESTIONNAIRE OF ALGAL RESEARCHERS (on behalf of BBSRC & NERC/TSB-AB SIG):

1. Title and Name: e.g. Dr John Example 2. Position: e.g. Royal Society Research Fellow 3. Telephone: e.g. 01234 56789 4. Spectrum of expertise: e.g. biophysics of photosynthesis; solar conversion efficiency 5. Are algae at the core or periphery of your research interests? core

periphery 6. Research interests

(please tick as many as apply, and highlight primary interest in bold): macroalgae bioenergy

microalgae bioremediation marine carbon capture freshwater waste water treatment applied research environmental issues fundamental research (platform) chemicals photosynthesis algae for food/feed bioprospecting nutraceuticals synthetic biology cosmeceuticals algal communities pharmaceuticals photobioreactor design integrated industrial growth algal productivity aquaculture biofouling other:______________ other:______________ other:______________

7. Where do you see the key challenges and opportunities for algal research in the next 5 / 10 / 25 years?

Timeframe (years) challenges opportunities 5 10 25

8. Funders of algal R&D – past: e.g. EPSRC, TSB, industrial funder (name confidential) 9. Funders of algal R&D – present: e.g. UKERC, Royal Society 10. UK Collaborators: e.g. Prof. Jean Xyz (Essex University); Dr Carola Mustermann (Glasgow

University); Mr William Sample (company Abc) 11. International collaborators: e.g. Dr Antonio Fernandez (UCLA, San Diego, US); Ms Sabrina Smith

(AlgaCompany, Israel); Prof Xu Yu (Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China); intl company in nutraceutical sector, not to be named

12. Do you know of any other interested parties either within your organisation or elsewhere we should contact?

Name Institution email

13. For Data Protection Issues are you prepared to have your name and anonymised responses included in the final report submitted to BBSRC? Name: Yes No

Anonymised responses: Yes No

Thank you for your participation!

63

Appendix C: Tables of Results from Returned Questionnaires Table C.1: Compilation of Questionnaire Responses Received (electronic .xls copy available on request) Table C.2: Overview of Questionnaire Participants Interested in Given Research Topics

Keyword No UK re-searchers involved

Subset: primary research interest

Universities where this is primary research interest, and name of researcher

Macroalgae 55 15 Aston, T Bridgwater. Birmingham, J Coates. Glasgow, N Kamenos & H Burdett. Plymouth MBA, C Brownlee. Newcastle, G Caldwell & S Marsham. Oxford, M Hermoso. Portsmouth, W Farnham. Queens University of Belfast, M Dring & G Savidge. Scottish Association For Marine Science, C Gachon. SEPA, C Scanlan. Stirling, A Gilburn. BioMara, J Macgregor

Microalgae 126 32 Birmingham, M Callow & L Macaskie. Cardiff, I Guschina. Cranfield, L De Nagornoff. Department for Communities and Local Government, D Rose. Dundee, G Codd. East Anglia, T Mock. Environmental Research Institute, A Jackson. Essex, R Geider, M Steinke, D Suggett & G Underwood. Glasgow, M Bees. Lancaster Environment Centre, R Groben. Greenwich, P Harvey. Liverpool John Moores University, J Fisher. Loughborough, D Ryves. Marine Biological Association, C Brownlee & D Schroeder. Natural History Museum, A Jungblut. Newcastle, G Caldwell & A Harvey. PML, K Weynberg & M Allen. The Queens University of Belfast, C Mullineaux. Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, D Mann. Sheffield, J Gilmour. Southampton, T Bibby & D Purcell. St Andrews, R Aspden. Stirling, P Hunter. Warwick, H Schaefer. Westminster, J Lewis.

Marine 100 21 Aston, T Bridgwater. Birmingham, M Callow. Cranfield, L De Nagornoff. East Anglia, T Mock. Essex, R Geider & D Suggett. Glasgow, N Kamenos. Marine Biological Association, C Brownlee. Newcastle, G Caldwell & A Harvey. Plymouth, J Hall-Spencer. PML, C. Llewellyn, S. Skill, M Allen & K Weynberg. The Queens University Belfast, C Mullineaux, M Dring & G Savidge. Scottish Association For Marine Science, C Gachon. SEPA, C Scanlan. Sheffield, J Gilmour. Southampton, D Purcell. Warwick, H Schaefer.

Freshwater 79 9 Bristol, A Anesio. Cambridge, D Aldridge. Cardiff, I Guschina. Department for Communities and Local Government, D Rose. Natural History Museum, A Jungblut. Plymouth Marine Laboratory, S Skill. Queen Mary University of London, C Mullineaux. Stirling, P Hunter. University College London, C Sayer.

Applied research

97 14 Aston, T Bridgwater. Birmingham, M Callow. Cambridge, D Aldridge. Cardiff, I Guschina. Cranfield, L De Nagornoff. Newcastle, G Caldwell. Plymouth, J Hall-Spencer. PML, C. Llewellyn, S. Skill. The Queens University Belfast, M Dring. Sheffield, J Gilmour. Stirling, A Gilburn. West of England, J Greenman.

Fundamental Research

97 19 Cardiff, I.Guschina. Cranfield, L De Nagornoff. East Anglia, T Mock. Edinburgh, S Collins. Essex, R Geider, M Steinke & D Suggett. Leeds, P Knox. Marine Biological Association, C Brownlee & D Schroeder. Oxford, J Langdale. Plymouth, J Hall-Spencer. PML, C Llewellyn & M Allen. The Queens University Of Belfast, C Mullineaus & C Maggs. Scottish Association For Marine Science, C Gachon. Stirling, A Gilburn. Warwick, D Scanlan. M Clegg.

Environmental issues

72 14 Birmingham, M Viant. Cardiff, I Guschina. Cranfield, L De Nagornoff. Department for Communities and Local Government, D Rose. Dundee, G Codd. Essex, R Geider & D Suggett. Liverpool, J Fisher. MBA, C Brownlee. Newcastle, G Caldwell. Plymouth, J Hall-Spencer. SEPA, C Scanlan. The Queens University Belfast, G Savidge.

Bioenergy 65 15 Aston, T Bridgwater. Bath, P Cameron. Birmingham, L Macaskie. Cranfield, L De Nagornoff. Dundee, G Codd & F Sargent. Edinburgh, C O'Rourke. Exeter, N Smirnoff. Greenwich, P Harvey. Newcastle, G Caldwell & A Harvey. Plymouth Marine Laboratory, K Weynberg, S. Skill. Queen Mary University of London, C Mullineaux. The Queens University Belfast, M Dring. Sheffield, J Gilmour. Southampton, T Bibby.

Algal communities

63 10 East Anglia, T Mock. Essex, R Geider. Lancaster Environment Centre, R Groben. Liverpool John Moores University, J Fisher. Marine Biological Association, C Brownlee. Natural History Museum, A Jungblut. Plymouth, J Hall-Spencer. SEPA, C Scanlan. Southampton, T Bibby. The Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh, E Goodyer.

Algal productivity

62 8 Aston, T Bridgwater. Bristol, A Anesio. Essex, R Geider. Leeds, D Mara. Oxford, R Rickaby. Plymouth, J Hall-Spencer. Sheffield, J Gilmour. Swansea, A Silkina.

Photosynthesis 48 9 Bristol, A Anesio. Cambridge, C Howe. Essex, R Geider & D Suggett. Queen Mary University of London, C Mullineaux. The Queens University Belfast, M Dring. Sheffield, N Hunter. Southampton, M Terry & T Bibby.

Carbon capture 42 5 Birmingham, L Macaskie. Leeds, D Mara. Plymouth, J Hall-Spencer. Plymouth Marine Laboratory, S Skill. Sheffield, J Gilmour.

64

Food/feed 37 6 Cardiff, I Guschina. Cranfield, L De Nagornoff. Leeds, D Mara. Newcastle, G Caldwell. Plymouth Marine Laboratory, C Llewellyn York, J Thomas-Oates.

Waste water treatment

31 5 Leeds, D Mara. Plymouth Marine Laboratory, S Skill. The Queens University Belfast, M Dring & G Savidge. Shefield, J Gilmour.

Bioremediation 29 5 Cambridge, D Aldridge. Manchester, J Pittman. The Queens University Belfast, M Dring & G Savidge. Swansea, R Shields.

Nutraceuticals 26 3 Newcastle, G Pearson. Plymouth Marine Laboratory, C Llewellyn & S Skill. Rothamsted Research, J Napier.

Photobioreactor design

23 3 Birmingham, L Macaskie. Plymouth Marine Laboratory, S Skill. Sheffield, W Zimmerman.

Platform chemicals

23 4 Aston, T Bridgwater. Cranfield, L De Nagornoff. Dundee, G Codd. Glasgow, J Clark

Integrated industrial growth

23 3 Aston, T Bridgwater. Cranfield, L De Nagornoff. Newcastle, G Caldwell

Pharmaceuticals 22 1 Newcastle, G Caldwell

Aquaculture 21 5 Cambridge, D Aldridge. Leeds, D Mara. Newcastle, G Caldwell. Plymouth, J Hall-Spencer. Queens University of Belfast, M Dring.

Biofouling 20 3 Birminham, M Callow. Cambridge, D Aldridge. Plymouth, J Hall-Spencer.

Synthetic biology

18 1 East Anglia, T Mock.

Bioprospecting 16 0

Cosmeceuticals 14 1 Plymouth Marine Laboratory, C Lewellyn & S Skill

Other algae/seaweed fly interactions, algal interface, bacteria-algae cross talk, beached wrack ecosystems, behaviour, being able to generate sterile cultures of macroalgae to allow accurate sequencing of transcriptomes and genomes, benthic C cycling, biodiversity (x3), biofilms, biofuels, biogeochemistry, biogeography, biological oceanography, biomass processing (x3), calcification, cavitation for cell destruction, cell biology, (chemical) ecology (x3), chloroplast (x2), climate change (x2), cloud formation and coastal regional climate, coastal particle formation, conservation, development, diseases, drinking water supply, ecological impacts of surf raking, economic impact & analysis (x2), (eco)toxicology (x6), EPS production, eutrophication control, evolution (x2), fertilizer recycling, financial viability, gene control of development, genomics (x4), HABS, HTL, human health, impact of large algal fields on atmospheric chemistry (e.g. emissions of halocarbons), impact of microalgal biopolymer exudate on the formation and properties of primary marine aerosol and their climate impacts, invasive species, lichenized algae, life support systems, macroalgal emissions of iodine and impact on gaseous photochemistry, metabolomics, microbial fuel cells, modelling, monitoring, motility, nature conservation, nutrition, ocean acidification, palaeobiology, pathogens (x3), phenotypic plasticity, phylogenetics, polysaccharides (x2), predator-prey interaction, reproductive biology, scaling up, soil crusts, speciation, taxonomy, temporal & spatial distribution, trace gases, USW cell filtration, viruses (x3)

Table C.3: Questionnaire Responses Sorted by University / Institution

University Department Spectrum of expertise Past funders Present funders

Aberdeen Chemistry bioactive natural products from marine organisms

BBSRC, Leverhulme Trust, SMEs

Scottish Funding Council (Scottish University Life Science Alliance)

Aberdeen Geology and Petroleum Geology

deep time algal ecology NERC, hydrocarbon industry

NERC, hydrocarbon industry

Aberdeen Institute of Biological and Environmental Sciences

algal culture; isotope enrichment; fatty acid analysis; fate of algal material in marine ecosystems

NERC

Aberdeen School of Medical Sciences

oomycete-algae interactions NERC NERC

Aston Engineering and Applied Science

chemical engineering applied to bioenergy and biofuels

EPSRC EPSRC

Aston Chemical Engineering

bioenergy, intermediate pyrolysis, gasification, biochar, algae

industrial funder (Varicon Aqua)

industrial funder (Varicon Aqua)

Bangor School of Ocean Sciences

biology, physic and economics large scale algal biomass/biofuels production

Shell Carbon Trust

65

University Department Spectrum of expertise Past funders Present funders

Bath Chemistry electrochemistry, solar energy conversion, materials chemistry, photo-microbial fuel cells

EPSRC

Birmingham School of Biosciences

algal and adhesion BBSRC, NERC, International Paint

International Paint, EC, US Office of Naval Research (ONR)

Birmingham School of Biosciences

plant development and evolution bids in to BBSRC and Leverhulme Trust

Birmingham School of Biosciences

environmental toxicology NERC

Birmingham School of Biosciences

on algae: complete beginner. Improved light delivery and photobioreactors: not yet on the radar with publications but we have an ongoing RC-project.

none MRC/EPSRC/BBSRC Discipline Hopping Award

Birmingham School of Biosciences

algal bioadhesion and biofouling BBSRC, NERC, Office of Naval Research (USA), European Commission

Office of Naval Research (USA), European Commission

Bournemouth microalgal culture, physiological assessment, flow cytometry, metabolic stains

NERC, Royal Society Marine Management Organisation, Royal Society - Pending

Bristol Biological Science

algal photosynthesis; impact of pesticides on biofilms; distribution patterns of macro and microalgae; UK expert diatom taxonomy; use of algae to assess ecological status; freshwater polar algal ecology.

Water companies; EN, NERC, FBA

Water companies; EN, NERC, FBA

Bristol Geographical Sciences

polar microbiology, biogeochemistry, aquatic microbial ecology

NERC, Nuffield Foundation, Royal Society

NERC, EU

Cambridge Applied Mathematics & Theoretical Physics

biological physics, fluid dynamics, nonlinear dynamics

BBSRC, EPSRC, ERC BBSRC, EPSRC, ERC

Cambridge Applied Mathematics & Theoretical Physics

eukaryotic flagellar dynamics and synchronization; colloidal physics

FP7 (Marie-Curie Program)

EPSRC

Cambridge Biochemistry biochemistry, molecular biology and evolution of photosynthesis, bioenergy

BBSRC, Leverhulme Trust EPSRC, industrial funder (name confidential)

Cambridge Biochemistry molecular genetics of algae Wellcome Trust, Broodbank Trust, BBSRC, Leverhulme Trust, Newton Trust

Leverhulme Trust

Cambridge Chemical Engineering & Biotechnology

Cambridge Chemical Engineering & Biotechnology

process engineering, carbon capture EPSRC via DTA industrial funder (confidential)

Cambridge Chemistry biological chemistry, microdroplets, microfluidics

Cambridge Chemistry artificial photosynthesis, solar fuels EPSRC EPSRC

Cambridge Engineering engineering / chemical engineering and reactors

Private industrial (name confidential)

Cambridge Earth Sciences evolutionary paleobiology NERC, Royal Society, National Geographic

66

University Department Spectrum of expertise Past funders Present funders

Cambridge Plant Sciences molecular biology and biochemistry of biosynthetic pathways in plants and algae; algal-bacterial symbiosis

BBSRC UKERC - NERC, BBSRC, EPSRC, industrial funder (confidential)

Cambridge Zoology freshwater ecology, bioremediation, close collaborations with the UK water industry

World Bank, UK water industry, Broads Authority, Environment Agency

NERC, Anglian Water

Cardiff School of Earth and Ocean Sciences

productivity, photophysiology, coastal erosion and biostability

NERC, BBSRC, CEH, CEFAS, Royal Society

NERC, BBSRC, CEH, CEFAS, Royal Society

Cardiff School of Biosciences

lipid biochemistry and molecular biology

Royal Society Austrian Academy of Sciences

Centre for Environment Fisheries and Aquaculture Science

flow cytometry, phytoplankton, productivity/biomass, North Sea

NERC, DEFRA (Cefas), INTERRE.G. - DYMAPHY (EU)

Centre for Ecology & Hydrology

phytoplankton, physiology and ecology

NERC, Water Industry and Regulators

Water Industry, Biofuels industry

Countryside Council for Wales

marine macroalgal field studies, ecology, communities

CCW – Welsh Assembly Government

CCW – Welsh Assembly Government

Coventry Environmental Sciences

environmental control, extraction of lipids and chemical components, enhanced growth

University, China collaborations

PI for the Coventry University Carbon Trust funded project (ABC programme)

Coventry Biomolecular and Sports Science

environmental control, extraction of lipids and chemical components, enhanced growth

University, China collaborations

Carbon Trust (ABC challenge to finish)

Cranfield School of Applied Sciences

microbiology, biocatalysis EU FP7, EPSRC

Cranfield School of Applied Sciences

environmental microbiology, biological processes

CNPq/Brazil

Cranfield School of Engineering

large scale production of biofuels, bioprocessing technology & innovation

Ministry of Defence, Airbus (France), Rolls Royce, British Airways, UoP, Finnair, EU, Gatwick Airport

Cranfield School of Engineering

outdoor offshore microalgae mass cultivation for biofuel production systems: productivity modelling and engineering

Internal funding – Cranfield University

Ministry of Defence – Centre for Defence Enterprise

Cranfield School of Engineering

algae growth, harvesting and processing systems

MoD, Industrial funders (names confidential)

MoD, Industrial funders (names confidential)

Department for Communities and Local Government

freshwater diatom ecophysiology, taxonomy, morphology with interest in using diatoms as bio-indicators and possibility of using algae as food & fuel source

NERC, Natural History Museum, University of Plymouth, University of Westminster, UCL

Dundee College of Life Sciences

NERC, EC, BBSRC UK and overseas Environmental Agencies, UK water Utilities, British Gas etc

Belgian National Research Council; consultancy

67

University Department Spectrum of expertise Past funders Present funders

Dundee School of Life Sciences

biophysics, biochemistry, physiology, ecology, evolution, environmental change

NERC, BBSCR, Scottish Executive

Not applicable: officially retired and unable to apply for funding as PI

Dundee Molecular Microbiology

hydrogen and hydrogenases; molecular biology

none (I am a bacterial person with a view to moving into Algae)

Durham Chemistry cell biology of metals BBSRC

Durham School of Biological and Biomedical Sciences

lipid metabolism, DNA array, Photosynthesis, Enzymology, Cyanobacteria gene regulation and transformation

BBSRC, JSPS BBSRC, LINK projects with Industry, Harvest Energy- Sealsbank UK

East Anglia Environmental Sciences

microalgae: physiology, biochemistry, ecology. Biological Oceanography. Some work on seaweeds. Specialist interests in role of algae in global biogeochemical cycles. Production of trace gases of atmospheric and climatic significance by marine micro and macroalgae.

NERC, EU, ELSA NERC

East Anglia Environmental Sciences

functional genomics and reverse genetics, evolution, photosynthesis, lipids, cell division, growth, metatranscriptomics

Department of Energy (DOE, USA), NERC, Royal Society, 454 Roche

NERC, Royal Society, BBSRC, Leverhulme Trust

Edinburgh Institute of Evolutionary Biology

experimental evolution in microalgae, microbial ecology in high CO2 environments

NERC Royal Society, ERC

Edinburgh School of Physics & Astronomy

chemistry of the polysaccharides of charophytes in relation to early land plant phylogeny

climate change studies The Leverhulme Foundation

Environmental Research Institute

intertidal ecology, impacts of renewable energy on benthic environments

Scottish Funding Council, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, ERDF

Essex Biological Sciences

photosynthetic energy conversion, microalgal culturing, environmental stress (light and temperature), nutrient requirements and limitation, algal proteomics, resource allocation strategies (optimality modelling), phytoplankton ecology

NERC, EC NERC, EC

Essex Biological Sciences

ecophysiology of marine algae, production of trace gases

NERC NERC

Essex Biological Sciences

physiology and photosynthesis (phytoplankton, corals), chlorophyll a fluorescence, marine nutrient cycling and environmental change

NERC, Royal Society NERC, EU

Essex Biological Sciences

photosynthesis, carbon allocation and production of extracellular products

NERC, EU, NSF NERC

Exeter Biosciences lipid metabolism. Primary carbon and nitrogen metabolism. Antioxidant systems and reactive oxygen species.

NERC (studentship), Industry (Shell Global Solutions- cyanobacteria)

Glasgow Chemistry synthesis of bioactive marine natural products

EPSRC, Pfizer (studentship) - synthesis

EPSRC - synthesis

68

University Department Spectrum of expertise Past funders Present funders

Glasgow Mathematics behaviour of swimming algae (e.g. gravitaxis, gyrotaxis, phototaxis); bioconvection (flows induced by suspensions of biased swimming cells); flow fields around individual swimming cells; effect of environmental stress on behaviour; biofuel production (lipids and hydrogen); intracellular dynamics; mathematical modelling; physics based experiments

EPSRC EPSRC

Glasgow Faculty of Physical Science

reconstructing climate using coralline algae

NERC NERC, Royal Society of Edinburgh

Glasgow marine biogeochemical cycling NERC, Geological Society NERC, Assemble

Imperial Environmental Science and Technology

water and wastewater treatment technologies

EPSRC, water companies

Imperial Natural Sciences

molecular biology and biochemistry of cyanobacteria, algae and chloroplasts with emphasis on photosynthesis and biofuels

BBSRC EPSRC

Imperial Natural Sciences

environmental and economic assessment of algal biofuel systems

EU Commission – FP7

Kings College London

School of Pharmacy

natural products, molecular biology, bioinformatics

Leverhulme Trust BBSRC

Lancaster Environment Centre

molecular ecology, taxonomy, molecular markers, harmful algae

NERC, EU, Environment Agency, Sellafield Ltd

NERC, EU

Leeds Civil Engineering

algae-based wastewater treatment in middle- and low-income countries

EPSRC and ODA (now DFID)

Leeds School of Geography

benthic geochemistry and ecology NERC Antarctic Science Ltd.

Leeds School of Earth and Environment

biofuels and biorefinery, hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL), microwave processing, pyrolysis, upgrading of fuels, characterisation of fuels, nutrient recycling, combustion, emission behaviour.

EPSRC, industrial funding (confidential)

EPSRC (Supergen), EPSRC (feasibility), Royal Society

Leeds Centre for Plant Sciences

plant cell walls, polysaccharides BBSRC CASE studentship with Böd Ayre

Liverpool Mathematical Sciences

fluid dynamics; motility of micro-organisms

EPSRC

Liverpool John Moores University

School of Natural Sciences & Psychology

algal and nutrient relationships, algal ecology

NERC

Loughborough Geography diatom ecology and palaeoecology, biogeochemistry of silica, limnology

NERC, EU, Carlsberg Foundation

NERC, NSF

Manchester Earth Atmospheric & Environmenal Sciences

atmospheric science, marine boundary layer chemistry, photochemistry, aerosol processes, aerosol-cloud interactions

NERC NERC, EU

Manchester Faculty of Life Sciences

metal accumulation and remediation, calcium signalling

Leverhulme Trust, Carbon Trust, BBSRC studentship DTA

Manchester Faculty of Life Sciences

molecular genetics AFRC, BBSRC

69

University Department Spectrum of expertise Past funders Present funders

Manchester School of Chemical Engineering & Analytical Science

fermentation process development, biorefinery engineering

none industry (oil & gas)

Manchester School of Chemical Engineering & Analytical Science

ultrasound standing wave cell filtration, concentration and destruction

The Carbon Trust The Carbon Trust

Marine Biological Association

Marine Biology algal cell biology, phytoplankton molecular biology, algal development and signalling

NERC, BBSRC, EU NERC, BBSRC, EU

Marine Biological Association

Marine Biology isolation and culturing of marine microalgae

NERC EU ACP Science & Technology Programme, EU Interreg Programme

Marine Biological Association

Marine Biology molecular biology, virology NERC, FP6 NERC, FP7

Natural History Museum

Botany ecology and diversity of cyanobacteria, phylogenetics

Natural History Museum

Botany algal physiology, algal culturing, gene expression

Natural History Museum

Botany algal systematics, phylogenetics, genomics and conservation

NERC, Royal Society, British Phycological Society

NERC (not taxonomy directly though), British Phycological Society, (internally: Natural History Museum)

Natural History Museum

Zoology evolution, genomics, phylogenetics, gene transfer, endosymbiosis

NERC (Biodiverse FP6)

Newcastle School of Chemical Engineering and Advanced Materials [CEAM]

chemical engineering, intensification of downstream processes

Carbon Trust

Newcastle Marine Science & Technology

algae chemical signalling; chemical manipulation; growth and lipid production; bioactive metabolites; biogas; anaerobic digestion; harvesting and dewatering; offshore production

Carbon Trust, EPSRC, NERC, ITI Energy/Scottish Enterprise, industrial funder (name confidential)

EPSRC, Carbon Trust, industrial funder (name confidential)

Newcastle Institute for Cell & Molecular Biosciences

seaweed fibre rheology and human gut function

MRC, BBSRC, industrial funder (name confidential)

BBSRC and two industrial funders

Newcastle Marine Science & Technology

algal functional groups, intertidal macroalgal ecology, plant-animal interactions, algal defence mechanisms, release of CDOM by macroalgae

Nottingham Faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences

bacterial cell-cell signalling, quorum sensing, cross-talk

NERC NERC

70

University Department Spectrum of expertise Past funders Present funders

Nottingham School of Geography

chlorophyll and carotenoid pigments, palaeolimnology, aquatic ecology

Freshwater Biological Association

Cemex UK Ltd, NERC

Nottingham School of Biology

lichen ecology, nitrogen fixation in cyanobacterial lichens

European Science Foundation

Oxford Earth Sciences isotopic fractionation in the calcareous nannoplankton

NERC

Oxford Earth Sciences isotope geochemistry of algal biominerals and organic components; algal remains as tracers of past climate change; ecological and biogeochemical response to environmental change

NERC; JSPS (Japan Society for Promotion of Science)

NERC

Oxford Earth Sciences carbon acquisition by marine algae, geochemistry of calcite and silica produced by algae, Rubisco kinetics and CCM function, paleoclimate

ERC & NERC ERC & NERC

Oxford Plant Sciences chloroplast development; evolution of land plants

ERC

Plymouth School of Marine Science & Engineering

macroalgal ecology, carbon sequestration, ocean acidification eg biophysics of photosynthesis; solar conversion efficiency

NERC, Royal Society, Esmee Fairbairn Foundation, EU eg EPSRC, TSB, industrial funder (name confidential)

NERC, EU eg UKERC, Royal Society

Plymouth Marine Laboratory

algal biochemistry and biotechnology TSB, BBSRC, DEFRA, NERC TSB, BBSRC

Plymouth Marine Laboratory

Sea from Space optics, photosynthesis, primary production, phytoplankton biology, remote sensing

Plymouth Marine Laboratory

Sea & Society molecular biology, protein chemistry, drug discovery

Confidential BBSRC-DEFRA, Carbon Trust

Plymouth Marine Laboratory

Sea & Society marine environmental research, phytoplankton, algal, pigments, biotechnology

Plymouth Marine Laboratory

Sea & Society algal molecular biology; algal virology; biofuel production

Shell BBSRC

Plymouth Marine Laboratory

Marine Life Support Systems

algae, algal viruses, bioprocessing, biocatalysis

industrial (confidential) Carbon Trust, BBSRC, industrial (confidential)

Portsmouth School of Earth & Environmental Sciences

biogeochemistry, algae-nutrient interactions

NERC NERC

Portsmouth Faculty of Science

molecular ecology; population biology/genetics

NERC/EC EC

Portsmouth marine aliens NERC, DoE Systematics Ass., Porcupine Soc

Queen Mary London

School of Biological and Chemical Sciences

cell biology, biophysics, regulation of photosynthesis, biogenesis and turnover

BBSRC BBSRC, Carbon Trust, EU FP7

Queen's Belfast

School of Biological Sciences

algal systematics, life histories, some applications

NERC, BP Marine Insitute (Ireland), AXA Foundation, Esmee Fairbairn foundation

71

University Department Spectrum of expertise Past funders Present funders

Queen's Belfast

School of Biological Sciences

physiological ecology of marine algae; applications and aquaculture of seaweeds

NERC, EU, Invest NI, Marine Institute (Ireland), ITI Energy

EU, Marine Institute (Ireland), Scottish Enterprise

Queen's Belfast

School of Biological Sciences

economic exploitation of macroalgae; water movement and macroalgal growth

EU, NERC, Invest Northern Ireland

EPSRC, EU

Reading Food and Nutritional Science

gut fermentation, health benefits of phytochemicals

EC FP7

Rothamsted Research

Sustainable Pest and Disease Management

lipid metabolism & metabolic engineering

None EU FP7, BBSRC (Studentship)

Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh

biology of microalgae, especially diatom systematics and evolution

BBSRC, NERC, EU, institutional core funding

Institutional core funding, EU

Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh

desmids - ecology, community ecology, taxonomy and climatic distribution, with a habitat focus on Scottish Blank Mires

Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) and Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA)

Scottish Association for Marine Science

Microbial and Molecular Biology

biological resources, algal biofuels, algal biotechnology, protistan cryopreservation, protozoan & algal culturing

EU, NERC, Pharma sector, SMEs

EU, NERC, Carbon Trust

Scottish Association for Marine Science

Microbial and Molecular Biology

algal diseases and pathogens, algal functional and environmental genomics

EU EIF Marie Curie fellowship

EU Reintegration Grant (ERG), 1 Marie Curie PhD studentship, NERC Oceans 2025-SOFI initiative

Scottish Association for Marine Science

Microbial and Molecular Biology

oomycete-algae interactions NERC NERC

Scottish Association for Marine Science

Microbial and Molecular Biology

biological resources, algal biofuels, algal biotechnology

EU, NERC, SMEs EU, NERC, Carbon Trust

Scottish Crop Research Institute

phytochemsitry of seaweeds related to health benefts

Local sources none

Scottish Environment Protection Agency

taxonomy and ecology Heriot Watt University Scottish Environmental Protection Agency

Scottish Environment Protection Agency

monitoring of macroalgae for regulatory agency, including development of monitoring tools

SEPA; EA

Sheffield Animal and Plant Sciences

photosynthesis and primary metabolism in diatoms

NERC NERC

Sheffield Chemical & Biological Engineering

metabolic engineering; synthetic biology; systems biology; proteomics

EPSRC; Carbon Trust; industry (confidential)

EPSRC; Industry

Sheffield Chemical & Biological Engineering

bioreactor design, transport processes

TSB TataSteel, Perlemax

72

University Department Spectrum of expertise Past funders Present funders

Sheffield Molecular Biology and Biotechnology

enzymology, membrane assembly, spectroscopy and

BBSRC, EPSRC BBSRC, EPSRC, US DOE

Sheffield Molecular Biology and Biotechnolog

algal growth, physiology, biotechnology

NERC Carbon Trust, UKERC, TSB

Southampton Biological Sciences

molecular biology of chloroplast development; photobiology; tetrapyrroles

Carbon Trust

Southampton School of Ocean and Earth Science

algal biofuel, photosynthesis in marine systems, structure/evolution of photosynthetic enzymes

BBSRC, NERC Carbon Trust

Southampton National Oceanography Centre

algal bloom control, marine taxonomy

UK Water Companies, Imperial College, SETI Institute, USA

NERC, Carbon Trust

St Andrews School of Biology

bioactive products; Microalgal defence

BBSRC, Aquapharm Bio-Discovery Ltd.

St Andrews School of Biology

bioinformatics, genomics, phylogeny

St Andrews School of Biology

diatoms, coastal ecology, biodiversity and ecosystem function

NERC, EU NERC, EU

St Andrews School of Biology

coastal ecology and sediment dynamics

European Union (MARBEF), NERC

Stirling Biological and Environmental Science

evolutionary ecology, conservation biology

NERC, BBSRC, Carnegie Trust

Stirling Biological and Environmental Science

underwater optics, remote sensing, cyanobacteria

NERC, ESRC, British Phycological Society

NERC, British Phycological Society

Strathclyde Economics regional economic-energy-environment modelling

EU through SEUPB-funded “BioMara” consortium (INTERREG IVA)

Surrey Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences

modelling and optimisation internal

Swansea School of the Environment and Society

algal growth and nutrition (experimental and modelling); plankton predator-prey and hence biosecurity issues etc. (experimental and modelling)

NERC; Royal Society / Leverhulme

NERC; FP7; Leverhulme; Carbon Trust; private venture

Swansea School of the Environment and Society

microalgal biomass production (esp PBRs); algal bioremediation; algal use in aquaculture

EC Framework Programme

EC Framework Programme; Welsh Assembly Government;

Swansea School of Engineering

photo-bioreactor design; downstream processing of algal biomass

Carbon Trust EC Framework Programme; Welsh Assembly Government

Swansea School of Engineering

bio-processing – microalgal harvesting, disruption & fractionation

EC Framework Programme;

Swansea Biosciences algal biotechnology and physiology EC Framework Programme; Welsh Assembly Government; private sector (various)

Swansea Biosciences biochemical engineering, membrane filtration

Welsh Assembly Government, A4B program

73

University Department Spectrum of expertise Past funders Present funders

Swansea Biosciences microalgal physiology NERC

Ulster diatoms, lake processes & production

NERC, Royal Society, INTAS, DENI, NATO

Part of a DICYCLE proposal to EC Marie Curie Fund

University College London

Geography diatoms; ecology and palaeoecology Royal Society, EU Framework programmes, Environment Agency, SEPA, Natural England, CCW, SNH, NIEA, NERC, SNIFFER, Marine Harvest

EU FP7, Environment Agency, NERC

University College London

Geography shallow lake and pond palaeolimnology, limnology

NERC

University College London

Geography palaeoecology, diatoms, wetlands, lakes

NERC, EU UK DEFRA, Darwin

University College London

Molecular Microbiology

algal biotechnology, genetic engineering, organelle biology, photosynthesis

BBSRC, Leverhulme Trust, Royal Society, RITE (Japanese funder), EU

BBSRC, EU FP7, Industry

Warwick Biological Science

molecular ecology of marine picocyanobacteria and photosynthetic picoeukaryotes; niche adaptation mechanisms in marine picocyanobacteria; picocyanobacterial genomics and molecular biology

NERC, EU, Leverhulme Trust, Royal Society

NERC

Warwick Chemistry metal homeostasis in cyanobacteria and other organisms, in particular zinc; bio-analytical Chemistry including elemental analysis and mass spectrometry

Royal Society NERC, Leverhulme Trust

Warwick Warwick HRI environmental microbiology, methylotrophy, trace gas metabolism

West of England

Sciences microbiology, microbial fuel cells, microbial volatiles, robotics

none EPSRC

West of England

Plant Sciences molecular biology, biochemistry SWRDA, University

Westminster School of Life Sciences

microalgal life cycles; dinoflagellates; taxonomy (traditional and molecular); isolation and culturing

EU; NERC; Royal Society; MAFF; CEFAS; Lloyds Register; NRA

EU

York Chemistry atmospheric chemistry, halogen chemistry, ocean-atmosphere interactions, macroalgal volatile emissions

NERC

York Chemistry mass spectrometry, separations, natural products, arsenic metabolism, algal polysaccharides

EPSRC BBSRC

York Green Chemistry Centre of Excellence

microwave pyrolysis, nanoparticles, mesoporous materials, polysaccharides, heterogeneous catalysis

White rose TSB

74

Table C.4.1: Challenges and Opportunities for Algal Research Given by Participants on a Timescale of 5 Years Each row corresponds to the entry of one questionnaire participant.

Challenges – 5 year timescale Opportunities – 5 year timescale Most of this is in the report - http://www.esf.org/research-areas/marine-sciences/marine-board-working-groups/marine-biotechnology.html

Recognising algal responses to rapid environmental change in the geological record, particularly in high resolution records of annual variation across key events

The economic crisis will make funding for fundamental algal research very challenging

Complete genome sequences of the most important algae will become available within the next 5 years, giving lots of opportunities

Growing and harvesting Major source of biomass for energy and chemicals Growing algae on secondary fertiliser sources Lowering the production costs and reaching level of other

energy carriers Clarifying economic potentials. Engineering suitable organisms. Collection and provision of CO2 for raceway systems. Treatment of waste material and recycling of nitrogen and particularly phosphorus by anaerobic digestion

Understanding electron transfer from algae to external electrodes

Understanding how electrons exit algal cells and how the algae interact with redox molecules/proteins is key to harnessing algae efficiently in photo-microbial fuel cells for the production of energy or hydrogen.

Translating progress in the ‘omics’ revolution for ‘model’ algae, to address economically relevant problems, such marine biofouling, thereby raising potential IMPACT in this sphere of research.

Biofouling caused by marine algae is an economically important, but largely neglected area of research at the level of fundamental, molecular and cellular processes. There is at least one good, genetically-tractable, model algal system that is also relevant to biofouling, and in which there is some effort to develop an understanding of adhesion in relation to surface properties, viz. Ectocarpus. If the right communities were brought together in an integrated project there is every prospect that we could start to understand what critical functions/pathways are involved in the selection/colonisation of surfaces.

Via interdisciplinary and international collaborations EC Gene discovery in macroalgae (particularly green algae) Next-generation sequencing, de novo transcriptomics and

genomics. Reduction of photobioreactor reactor footprints Integration of carbon capture and energy generation Continued use in toxicity testing Bringing about international collaboration into mass algal culture for various applications

Interdisciplinary working, carbon offsetting

Diversity New molecular methods Convince funders that algae are as useful as Arabidopsis Algae as indicators of climate change/environmental impact Scaling-up from lab successes to field-scale commercial applications; Impacts of habitat change and invasive species on commercial developments

To integrate the palaeontological record with ancient geochemical and modern biochemical data; to resolve the systematic relationships and early evolutionary patterns of cyanobacteria and eukaryotic algae; to determine the coevolutionary interplay between life and the planet.

Keen interest from geochemists and molecular biologists promises to shed important new multidisciplinary light on the early evolution of the Earth’s atmosphere, oceans and biosphere

For fuel production, substantial increase in algal productivity. Demonstration by paper studies that fuel production is feasible.

Evolution of multicellularity Related lineages amenable to study Persuade funders to recognize importance of basic science for algae and photosynthesis. develop improved genetic tools for algae . enhanced public perception

Use public interest in algae to enhance photosynthesis education in schools

75

Challenges – 5 year timescale Opportunities – 5 year timescale Demonstrating a commercial success Maximising algal growth and productivity Development of algal metabolic engineering Transformation protocols Genome Analyses Funding availability Biofuels, climate change, sustainability Algae in trophic web chains Few current projects in the laboratory and as collaboration

with Vienna University and Ben-Gurion University Understand geochemical processes of carbon exchange involving plankton

Collaboration with oceanographers

Non-native algal invasions Biomass Enhanced growth and extraction Environmental protection, Fuels and nutriceuticals Enhanced growth and extraction, control Environmental protection, Fuels and nutriceuticals Efficient algae separation/bioenergy production Technology transfer Algae strains: Identification and improvement of most suitable algae strains. Screening and development of new strains. Cultivation systems:- Downstream technologies and harvesting - Overcome limitation of each cultivation system - Identify efficient large-scale cultivation systems -Identify efficient algae biomass harvesting systems. Algae Biorefinery: Screening for relevant active substances from algae. System analysis: - Produce reliable LCAs that are well known for algae-to-biofuels large scale production processes - Maximise and evaluate the cost-competitiveness of large biofuels production chain- Assess global impact of algae biofuels production

Identify the conditions leading to the optimisation of algae and/or lipid biomass production potential Identify new algae strains.Develop optimised and stable algae-to-biofuels conversion technologies. Develop procedures for determining algae oil quality. Demonstrate improved downstream technologies Develop/implement procedures for the isolation of new active substances. Manage environmental large scale cultivation issues and minimisation of negative impacts

Upscaling of current biofuel from microalgae production systems to develop a energy positive, carbon neutral/negative, cheap micro and medium (102 L to 104 L of biofuel per week) production system

Local modular, robust, low resource footprint biofuel production facility (ideal for military applications, remote scientific bases, remote communities)

Production efficiency versus light availability Prove capacity of biomass and oil production Sustainable growth systems Pilot research and scale up Funding. Professional accreditation More collaborative and cross-discipline work.Whilst there are

‘societies’ one can join, there is no single professional body for the algae community which can support and professionalise the various activities, offer CPD training and accreditation like most other ‘professionals’ This could form the basis of what the Reaserch Councils are looking for. Building ‘recognised’ professional expertise would help in gaining funding, consultancy work and cross-discipline working

Appropriate selection/modification of strains for biofuel production, C capture technology and bioactive product production. Hazard characterisation of emerging toxins of microalgae and cyanobacteria and risk management

Process maximisation with multiple product formation. Health and safety assurance (water quality and safety, and in algal biotech. process work practices and products

Develop easy genetic tools for modification/engineering None Engineering new metabolic products, bioreactor design, reduction cost nutrients to grow algae

A) FUNDING!!! Especially from BBSRC B) Bioinformatics A) Specific calls (BBSRC) to promote algal research. More referees from the int. alga community. Cutting edge research in the UK and not in other countries such as US. B) New genome and transcriptome sequences from environmentally and biotechnologically relevant algae. Highly needed because of unexplored diversity. Good example is the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation (GBMF) and their programme to support algal research (Marine Microbial Initiative).

Moving beyond using a few model species. Developing population genetics tools to enable us to use long term datasets (such as the CPR data). Technical challenges wrt molecular genetics with model systems such as Chlorella and Chlamydomonas that would allow better biofuels research

Developing marine model systems for long-term studies. Marine ecology (especially incorporating viruses into marine nutrient cycling)

76

Challenges – 5 year timescale Opportunities – 5 year timescale Bioenergy Bio-indicators, waste water treatment Understanding potential responses by marine micro-algal biofilms to climatic change. Understanding impacts of biofouling on tidal energy devices

Automated systems for monitoring chl content of offshore waters as tool to support offshore aquaculture – applications can be about resources of food and risk of harmful algal blooms.

(1) Obtaining an objective and realistic assessment of the potential of algae for food/fuel/feedstock production given the inherent energetic and resource allocation constraints that dictate biomass production and the engineering constraints on the operation of algal culturing systems. (2) Assessing the potential environmental impacts of large scale algal culturing including those on microclimate, nutrient cycling and greenhouse gas production.(3) Development of models of algal growth of varying degrees of sophistication from simple optimum resource allocation strategies to complex systems biology models.(4) Elucidating structure-function relationships at the molecular level.

(1) Development of a predictive understanding of how algal communities will respond to environmental change (e.g., climate change and associated ocean acidification; coastal eutrophication). (2) Elucidating structure-function relationships at the molecular level. (3) Conducting experiments for systems biology studies of single celled algae as model systems for basic research in plant/algal photosynthesis and metabolism.

Response of algae to ocean acidification Predict winners and losers of increased CO2 Data handling as move to ‘omics’ based research More sensor development for high biomass algal growth

(industrial) systems Realistic expectations Novel compounds, manipulation of pathways More genome sequences. Curation of genomic/genetic resources for key algal groups. Development of facile genetic transformation systems for “key” species.

Understanding the metabolic and physiological diversity and plasticity of microalgae and the implication for primary production, ecosystem stability, bioprospecting and sustainable biofuel production.

Development of sensitive tests for detection of algal toxins in seafood

Identification of bioactive algal natural products as potential leads for drug discovery

Invasive species Determine spread Defining baseline Quantify the current role algae have in elemental cycles and

in ecosystems Increasing presence of alga in natural water systems and reservoirs

Approaches to, and methods for, controlling algal populations

Development of toolbox to do synthetic biology and understanding of metabolic flux

Metabolic engineering for production of biofuels and high value products

Poor data quality, inappropriate extrapolation of lab based results to estimate system performance

Genetic manipulation Completed genome sequences Secure funding, showing the importance of algal research to funders & public

Use of algae as source for commercial applications

Increase wastewater treatment in middle and low-income countries from current levels of <10% to ~20% and linked to use of treated wastewater for fish culture and crop irrigation

Research into use of high-rate algal ponds after high-rate anaerobic ponds to reduce both land and carbon footprint of wastewater treatment. [High-rate anaerobic ponds also need research for design optimization for maximal biogas production.]

Quantifying biodiversity in algae? Investigation of diversity (intra and interspecific) Quantification of algal responses to environmental change DNA taxonomy; non-linear/complex modelling of

communities & ecosystems; Algal biofuels (proof of concept) Proof of principle biofuel show: energy in << energy out Many new applications from new interactions between

biologists and engineers Making algae biotech applications, particularly biofuel, commercially viable. Funding issues – underfunded compared to other biosciences

Improved genomic technologies/sequence availability for benefit to many applications

Controlled mass cultivation Oil production Tools for model systems Developing critical mass of researchers Understanding mechanisms at the molecular level that underlie major biogeochemical processes

Genome data availability. Increased multidisciplinary collaborations

Isolation & culture of more strains Utilising strains already in culture Understanding its true biodiversity and ecosystem function Discover novel strains and processes

77

Challenges – 5 year timescale Opportunities – 5 year timescale Obtaining funding from UK sources, particularly research councils, for fundamental algal research, particularly in fields of taxonomy, genomics etc. Lack of posts for people with algal skills. Lack of individuals with the appropriate skills. Not enough (if any) exposure to algae in schools. Turning the hype about biofuels using algae into something ‘real’ and environmentally sustainable. Making sure that the whole environment is taken into consideration with any initiatives.

A great time for the algae so a chance to use this momentum to get the algae firmly in the research game and in the public eye. There are things happening in phycology (e.g. Global Seaweed Network, an initiative that I am driving) and this is a great time for these initiatives to come to the fore and potentially be given the funding boost they need. A chance to getting working on curricula in schools to get the subject integrated (especially after e.g. the House of Lords and councils taxonomic review). Genome research for the macroalgae. We are already underway with this. Using the lessons of the past to make sure we don’t mess up the environment with new initiatives.

Understand the diversity of photosynthetic life Find new algal forms Obtain baseline data of microalgal biodiversity to detect change such as climate change. Resolve environmental processes shaping microalgal communities & diversity to detect change such as climate change. Contribution of microalgae to carbon fluxes. Bioprospecting for bioactives

Main challenge is sustained funding for R&D, particulalry in the UK. Most algae technologies are not even close to scale up. Unrealistic expectation and demand for quick return on investment may prove destructive.

RCUK should enhance support for basic R&D and not blindly expect that the private sector will drive the research. This would be terribly short sighted.

Economic processing New technologies Biofuels monopolising available algal supplies Isolation of new Bioactives and new roles for current

bioactives Algal biofuels Renewable energy funding to support research Climate regulation Being able to do genetics in macroalgae Understanding physiology and CCMs Genetic engineering of CCMs perhaps into terrestrial plants Modelling phytoplankton response to climate and integration with climate models; forward modelling of sedimentary algal remains; modelling net carbon capture/loss by algae+biominerals in response to major climate (temperature) and environmental (pH, CO2, nutrient) change

Apply mechanistic models to re-evaluate existing data and concepts concerning ecological and environmental change. Identify and develop algal biofuels; couple with waste water and gas treatment

Scaling up from lab based studies PBR design. Algae based wastewater treatment system design with biofuel and fertiliser as outputs.

We are currently applying the lowest energy, high rate PBR (S. Skill Proprietary) to carbon capture for the commercial production of platform chemicals, nutraceuticals, cosmeceuticals and pharmaceuticals. UK’s largest carbon capture PBR being now being commissioned. The technology is applicable globally. Simple biofilm based algae wastewater treatment system has been developed and collaborators are sought for demonstration projects

Understanding metabolic pathways and physiology of marine algae

New data from genomics, proteomics etc will uncover novel products

Bioprocessing. Dealing with large volumes of water in an energetically favourable way.

Too few people entering the field and loss of taxonomy and other field based and whole organism expertise, including physiology. Resilience and shifts in phytoplankton communities in changing environments. Developing an understanding of genome-environment interactions and their contribution to ecosystem function. Developing and understanding of the implications of genomic plasticity in cyanobacteria

Current interest in algae as a source of biofuel, justified or not, will up the profile of these organisms and perhaps encourage interest among the next generation of scientists. Similarly phycologists need to ensure that that importance of algae in global processes is more fully appreciated. In essence an interest in algae and cyanobacteria is more likely to be engendered through an appreciation of their contribution “systems”. As in some other fields I suspect that the days of taxon-based biology are limited, but we do still need to have people who understand individual system components

Taxonomy & systematics

78

Challenges – 5 year timescale Opportunities – 5 year timescale More efficient biodiesel production by microalgae, carbon capture

Molecular cell biology: understanding the biogenesis of the complete photosynthetic apparatus

Obtaining sufficient funding for research Genomics exploitation; capitalizing on fuel shortages To develop cost effective techniques for mass culture of micro- and macro-algae, and for extracting energy from them; to develop economic techniques for sustainable harvest of natural seaweed populations.

To identify high-value chemicals for medical, industrial or food additive uses that will subsidise culture and harvest costs.

Funding/functional foods Nutraceuticals Recognition from funding agencies that algae are a viable and established production platform

Algae are great synthetic biology chasis. The use of algae in systems-based approaches to define important metabolic pathways (e.g. synthesis of vitamins and omega-3 fatty acids)

Maintaining and encouraging expertise in fundamental biology of algae; new culture methods for ‘recalcitrant species; developing ‘barcode’ or other methods for identifying and labelling species and clones; combining new genomics- and molecular genetic-based approaches with insights from previous generations of researchers (there’s a lot of waste in current research, through failure to take account of and see the relevance of existing knowledge in ‘unfashionable’ areas); frankly, some rsearch leaders are clever but uneducated; understanding the role of algae in controlling climate and climate change

Discovery and production of novel compounds, including pharmaceuticals, novel bioceramic materials, improved aquaculture feeds; improved (faster, more reliable, less person-intensive) biomonitoring of water quality (only a tiny fraction of algal biodiversity has been surveyed so far, partly because culture collections are small and cannot maintain more than a few hundreds of easily cultivatable strains – laboratory weeds)

Generating fundamental knowledge: physiological, molecular, chemical engineering

Building science to enhance productivity and reproducibility on the commercial interests

Algal genomics/ systems biology is perceived by reviewers to fall halfway between the remit of BBSRC and NERC. BBSRC strategic investment on biofuels (via TGAC and BSBEC) is currently limited to land plants. A more coherent phycological community will not emerge unless more adequate funding opportunities are made available to federate researchers. phycology is not a mainstream discipline in most university curriculums

Potential of algae for sustainable biofuel production. Next generation sequencing, metabolomics, comparative –omics and systems biology to quickly elucidate the physiology of non model organisms. algal aquaculture already well developed in Asia/ South America. Exchange programs / international collaborations would be highly beneficial to establish a UK research base

The fallout of the global financial crisis will make funding for fundamental algal research in some key western countries (in particular, the UK) probably very hard

Full sequences of the most important algal genomes will probably become available within the next 5 years

Generating fundamental knowledge: physiological, molecular, chemical engineering

Building science to enhance productivity and reproducibility on the commercial interests

Biofuels Creating a green source of energy Indicators of climate change More focussed research in conjunction with regulatory

agencies; an pportunity for funding bodies to work closely with regulators

To demonstrate growth of microalgae outdoors in the UK on a commercial scale

The current interest in biofuels from algae mean that funding opportunities are good

understanding assembly dynamics and organisation of photosynthetic membranes

Regulation Biofuels, other products Genetic tools Development of better genetic tools for exemplar species Energy efficiency of dewatering, co-products with biofuels Multidisciplinary research Establishing algal research as a major funding area in cell and molecular biology. Understanding the diversity of algal cell and molecular biology.

The application of methodologies developed in other research areas is already being applied to algae. The continuation of this will rapidly advance out understanding of algal biology.

Understanding diversity Marine metagenomic studies Algal bloom control, marine taxonomy Funding for Applied Research, medical and industrial

applications using algal species Identify most efficient products and integrated culture systems for biofuel exploitation; maintain expertise in taxonomy; increase abilities to genetically manipulate algae

Production of valuable chemical products from algal biomass

Functional annotation of genes and proteins Comparative genomics

79

Challenges – 5 year timescale Opportunities – 5 year timescale Funding, unravelling climate change issues Communication of issues, spreading importance of coastal

biodiversity and function Ocean acidification/biofouling/coastal stability Impacts of harvesting for biofuels Assessment of impact Structural: Lack of funding, particularly for work on freshwater algae; Decline of freshwater science in the UK. Science: Development of micro and macro tools for understanding impacts of environmental change on algal populations; need for better understanding of the occurrence, fate and impact of algal toxins on human health in the UK; Relationship between algae and human pathogens in the UK and other climates

Structural: UK remains at forefront of many fields (especially marine) despite decline in some areas (freshwater); opportunity to reinvigorate phycological research in UK; create stronger international links. Science: Transferability of ocean optics instrumentation to study of freshwater algae; Development of remote sensing techniques for monitoring of algal populations in coastal and inland waters;

Engineering aspect of large scale algal cultivation Integrated experimental/computational research Good data sets to support effective modelling Modelling of alternative scenarios Cost effective algal biomass production and downstream processing;

Sustained expansion of food, feeds and fine chemicals production from algae

Cost of biomass production by PBR, PBR maintenance, isolation of species for large scale biomass production

CO2 mitigation, biodiesel, pharmaceutical

Engineering challenges of downstream processing of algal biomass

Biofuels, carbon dioxide capture

Financing of basic macroalgal research for commercial take-up / Increasing interest in macroalgae as a resource

Cataloguing desmid species Taxonomy Genetic advances Automated analyses (e.g. flow cytometry, etc.) to support microscopical observation of microalgae

e.g. Flowcam approach, which can quantify many facets of cell morphology (measurements) & activity (fluorescence, etc.) in multi-species field samples.

Continued funding for applied and pure research during budget cuts

Refinement of classification tools for the Water Framework Directive; application to climate change science

Creating a critical mass of algal biologists in the UK. Playing catch-up with the USA in terms of algal research investment, innovation and IP ownership.

There is a real interest in PhD studies in algal biotechnology, both amongst UK/EU students and overseas. UK industry and investors are keen to exploit algal-based opportunities, but needs help and guidance wrt to basic biology, engineering, downstream processing, etc.

Eutrophication and impacts on phytoplankton productivity, macrophyte loss

Obtaining full genome sequences Discovering and understanding key metabolic pathways, cell walls, genome evolution

No opinion No opinion Making sense of high throughput genomics data Understanding algal biology and evolution Realistic strain selection and methods for (GM?) strain improvement

Development of multi-disciplinary research networks

Genome sequencing Better equipment and methods Understanding the relationships between primary productivity and environment

Elucidating the underlying molecular mechanisms allowing the dominance of pico-sized phytoplankton in the oceans (key CO2 fixers)

Utilising new molecular technologies coupled to focused physiology and biochemistry of target organisms and further linked to ecological process measurements

Identifying high value chemicals from algae and establishing green chemistry routes to extraction etc. Quantifying environmental risks of algal biorefineries, farms etc. Farming kelp – research on pilot scales

UK has substantial expertise in related marine and atmospheric science and in “green chemistry”

Extraction and exploitation of raw materials Lots of unexploited opportunities Efficient algal production 1. Efficient tank for algal growing. 2.Genetically modified algal

species with high lipids yield. 3.Sustainable seaweed farming Climate change research For understanding climate change Establishing links with other fields of botany and ecology

Establishing links with other fields of botany and ecology

80

Challenges – 5 year timescale Opportunities – 5 year timescale Genomes, bioinformatics, genetics. Macrocystis mass cultivation on Falkland Islands (see what is happening in Chile)

Algofuel boom

Algal biofuels Growth platforms, community dynamics Developing novel strains Development of novel technology platforms for high

throughput analyses Understanding diversity of types of algae useful for different purposes

Microbial Fuel Cells, algal fuel, photobioreactors

Table C.4.2: Challenges and Opportunities for Algal Research Given by Participants on a Timescale of 10 Years Each row corresponds to the entry of one questionnaire participant. Challenges – 10 year timescale Opportunities – 10 year timescale Cover much/most of algal biodiversity with DNA barcodes Growing and harvesting Major source of biomass for energy and chemicals Realizing cheap photobioreactors Commercial growth for fuel and energy Clarifying economic potentials. Engineering suitable organisms. Collection and provision of CO2 for raceway systems. Treatment of waste material and recycling of nitrogen and particularly phosphorus by anaerobic digestion. PLUS Producing coupled Physical/Biological models of mass algal production. Optimising and designing economic scenarios

Screening existing strains and engineering mutants that effectively form biofilms and can transfer electrons to an electrode without the addition of a redox mediator.

Much higher efficiency

Diminishing number of Faculty (permanent) positions in UK universities focussing on algal research, in contrast to mainland Europe

Ultimately (10-15 years) this could lead to ‘rational’, novel antifouling coating designs that target specific fouling processes, with potential benefits to the marine coatings industry

Establishing widespread growth and culture of macroalgae in the lab; use as model organisms and for functional genomics. Understanding macroalgal development and physiology at the molecular and cellular level, similarly to the studies that have revolutionised land plant biology in the last 20 years.

Applying methodologies and technical expertise from the land plant community to asking similar questions in algae to those already being posed by land plant biologists. Understanding how “non-model” organisms adapt to their habitats at a genomic/transcriptomoc level

Inspiration from natural systems Novel products ‘ thinking out of he box’ Bioprospecting Extreme environments Interest the next generation of students that it is worth working on algae

Next gen sequencing

To integrate the palaeontological record with ancient geochemical and modern biochemical data; to resolve the systematic relationships and early evolutionary patterns of cyanobacteria and eukaryotic algae; to determine the coevolutionary interplay between life and the planet.

Keen interest from geochemists and molecular biologists promises to shed important new multidisciplinary light on the early evolution of the Earth’s atmosphere, oceans and biosphere

Studies of integrated renewable energy schemes – algae plus solar capture plus wind energy etc.

Provide larger pool of trained algal scientists Develop algae as a renewable energy source Optimised organisms with improved growth. “Plant breeding” for improved strains or GM Crop protection, avoidance of algal blooms Algae as platform for biorefining Model System development Metagenomics Funding availability Biofuels, climate change, sustainability Algae Biofuel: Biochemical Engineering Collaborative work with Ben-Gurion University Manage dynamics of communities affected by overfishing and acidification

To apply ecological knowledge to fishery management

Biodiversity Control

81

Challenges – 10 year timescale Opportunities – 10 year timescale Efficient industrial harvesting Carbon Capture Sustainable algae production in cold weather regions Cell engineering Measure and compare the LCA and energy balance of all existing algae to biofuels technologies

Biomass/lipid production strains of number including new algae strains optimized. Optimise current and new production systems. Develop innovative algae systems

Optimization of microalgae cultivation (strain selection and mass cultivation systems), bulk harvesting, de-watering and drying techniques

Displace fossil fuels to inherit the huge fossil fuel transport market and develop a carbon neutral transport system

Scaling up Pilot plants; Biological process and bioengineering Large scale systems to meet national needs Industrial and applied research to achieve this Biofuels from crops are not working, not sustainable and damaging. We need a cost effective and non-habitat destroying alternative

Bioenergy and food production

Appropriate selection/modification of strains for biofuel production, C capture technology and bioactive product production. Hazard characterisation of emerging toxins of microalgae and cyanobacteria and risk management

Process maximisation with multiple product formation. Health and safety assurance (water quality and safety, and in algal biotech. process work practices and products

Develop easy genetic tools for modification/engineering Algal oils for biodiesel Mass production of algae economically, increasing photosynthetic efficiency, integrating production processes- cell breakage, harvesting and downstream processing, developing closed systems for recycling nutrients

A) Reverse Genetics (novel tools) and Systems Biology (integrative tools, modelling) B) Epigenetics (e.g. short non-coding RNAs, histone methylation, DNA methylation)

A) E.g. homologous recombination, RNAi, high-throughput transformation, tilling, classical forward genetics, high-throughput phenotyping, metabolomics, etc. Identification of novel algal-specific biology. Most of the molecular work on algae so far has been done on functionally assigned genes and proteins, which, however, only represent about 50% of the gene/protein repertoire of algae. We need to identify the ‘unknown-ome’ to discover algal-specific biology on a large scale. B) Epigenetics – a phenomenon that changes the final outcome of a gene or chromosome without changing the underlying DNA sequence has tremendous significance for the biology of almost all eukaryotic and many prokaryotic life forms on earth. However, the significance of epigenetic processes for the biology of algae is unknown because is has been almost completely overlooked although most algae have proteins (e.g. DICER, methylases) for many different epigenetic processes.

Bioenergy Climate change studies Culture of micro-algae for biofuels. Culture of macro-algae for anaerobic digestion

Detailed understanding of composition of intertidal epilithic assemblages of micro-algae using in situ field spectrometry

Continuation of challenges (3) and (4) from above. Continuation and expanding the opportunities listed above. Response of algae to ocean acidification Predict future climate Significant decrease of blue skies funding Better direct understanding of responses to climate change Ocean acidification Understanding calcification / photosynthetic responses Assessing climate effects Quantify the current role algae have in elemental cycles and in

ecosystems Increasing presence of alga in natural water systems and reservoirs

Approaches to, and methods for, controlling algal populations

Strain optimisation for economic production of biofuels and high value products

Cost Speciality chemicals Loss of taxonomical expertise Understanding of “meaningful” diversity and changes (at genetic

/ species / functional group / etc. level) for ecosystem functioning

As above but to at least 50%; plus use of Clean Development Mechanism to obtain carbon credits to reduce O&M costs of wastewater treatment

82

Challenges – 10 year timescale Opportunities – 10 year timescale Linking algae with ecosystem functioning roles Improved understanding of ecological function of algae Freshwater (incl. algal) responses to climate & global change

Algal biofuels (small scale commercial development)

Creating medium size ponds New technology spreading out beyond the algae community Making algae biotech applications, particularly biofuel, commercially viable. Funding issues – underfunded compared to other biosciences

Algal pharmaceutical research

Marine bioreactor systems (like fish farms) Large scale production From models to commercial species Increased Industrial Participation Integrating at different scales to understand and predict environmental consequences of climate change

Large scale infrastructures focussed on marine biology.

Characterising optimal growth and harvesting conditions Screening for bioactive products Maintaining genetic stability and thus product yield within key strains

New genetic interactions, controls and feedbacks

Lack of people with really good taxonomic algal knowledge and who are able to progress the subject scientifically (as opposed to being able to identify species in the field for example) below the age of 60-65 with positions in algal taxonomy (this probably applies for 5 years as well).

Should be a great time to see the products of algal genome research. Hopefully algal products (beyond the ones we know and take for granted such as nori) will really be beginning to make a difference for life on earth in the broadest sense (food, other products, health but also for improving the quality of the planet).

Understand how that diversity evolved and how genome and metabolism of different algae varies

Provide potentially new metabolic organisms and pathways for biotechnology

Scale up of technologies. A decadal time scale for commercialisation should be achievable but will need financial underpinning. Also, public education will need to be focused to show that algae products offer a less environmentally damaging product.

Real opportunity for a private finance initiative approach here to deliver production and processing systems at scale.

Genetic modification Sea pollution and temperature increase Expanding the use of algal biomass as human food source As above plus loss of taxonomic expertise. Few expert taxonomists remain and numbers are gradually decreasing

Training courses/networking/sharing of expertise to pass on key skills and knowledge of algal taxonomy

Establishing a profile/ interest with the public Role in global biogeochem cycling Biofuels Being able to transform macroalgae Feedbacks on the carbon cycle and climate system, Use of coupled climate-algal models and sedimentary (geological) data to test hypotheses concerning global and regional climate and biogeochemical processes

Use of natural gradients e.g. in CO2 saturation state and nutrients

Algal strain genetic improvement for increased photosynthetic efficiency, and enhanced secondary and primary metabolite production.

We are currently applying the lowest energy, high rate PBR (S. Skill Proprietary) to carbon capture for the commercial production of platform chemicals, nutraceuticals, cosmeceuticals and pharmaceuticals. UK’s largest carbon capture PBR being now being commissioned. The technology is applicable globally. Simple biofilm based algae wastewater treatment system has been developed and collaborators are sought for demonstration projects

Realising algal potential as feedstock for biofuels Could address fuel shortage needs in medium to long-term Bioprocessing Impossible to say – probably all of the above Algal-based synthetic biology, photosynthetic biohydrogen production

Making sure algal is appropriately supported to main continuity of research

Moving lab-based discoveries into practical exploitation (NB. this is a challenge too)

83

Challenges – 10 year timescale Opportunities – 10 year timescale Maintaining and encouraging expertise in fundamental biology of algae and finding new culture methods, developing ‘barcodes’ as above; identifying and minimizing environmental consequences of new algal uses and processes , e.g. through introductions of alien genes and organisms; understanding the role of algae in controlling climate and climate change

As on left, plus development of new algal strains and ‘cultivars’ for higher yields of algae with biotech potential, from genetic manipulations through transformation, etc, but also ‘classical’ breeding programs

Applying fundamental knowledge and tools developed to achieve commercially realistic scale-up

To have commercially viable intermediate scale production systems

Poor knowledge of algal physiology at molecular level, hampering breeding of new varieties. no knowledge of the environmental impact of large scale commercial cultivation of algae in Europe

Potential of algae for sustainable biofuel production, feed for aquaculture (link to food safety). economical incentive towards the domestication of algae

Cover much/most of algal biodiversity with DNA barcodes Applying fundamental knowledge and tools developed to achieve commercially realistic scale-up

To have commercially viable intermediate scale production systems

Algae as biofuels Research is already happening. How practical is it really, and would the scale required be detrimental to the environment?

To have a number of companies (large and small) using algae to produce biofuels, neutraceuticals in tandem with wastewater treatment and carbon capture.

Large companies are willing to support large scale pilot studies to prove these concepts

Assembly of bioinspired circuitry for energy and electron transfer

Regulation Biofuels, other products Full pathway manipulation in the same (relatively easy) way as can be done for bacteria such as E.coli

Ambitious metabolic engineering (synthetic biology) in the algae

Energy efficiency of photobioreactors Multidisciplinary research Developing model species that could be engineered to achieve the productivity levels required to be major crop species.

Synthetic biology Techniques available to develop highly efficient biofuel producing algal cells

Fundamental research i.e. taxonomy etc Private funding opportunities, algae based companies, Large-scale energy from algal biofuels Comprehensive understanding of regulatory networks Transcriptomics Managing climate change Realism of responses, matching policy and capability Lack of funding; Decline of freshwater science in the UK Science: Prospect of new satellite platforms for real-time

monitoring of algal populations in inland waters; integration with other sensor networks

Discovering and realising full potential of (mainly naturally occuring) algae (multiple roles) in industry for sustainable society

Good data sets to support effective modelling Modelling of alternative scenarios Development of sustainable integrated biorefineries Transition from pilot to commercial scale algal biofuel and

bioenergy production, integrated with “high value” algal products

Optimization of biomass production in different environmental condition, and processing

CO2 mitigation, food and feed, biodiesel,

Cost effective developments in processing of algal biomass Renewable energy source, feed stocks Encouraging commercial finance into the industry / Developing international links

Understanding desmid ecology and looking at their potential use as indicator species for certain habitats

Life history strategies (very few known in sufficient detail, although there are hundreds of thousands of species of microalgae). Needs a combination of lab & interdisciplinary field studies from a range of habitats.

Ecological research of marine and freshwater microalgae has been declining (at least in UK) but it will become increasingly important to reap the full potential of the information coming from genetic studies.

84

Challenges – 10 year timescale Opportunities – 10 year timescale Long term survival of museums and centres of excellence for taxonomic expertise

Important indicators in long term water quality monitoring programmes; biodiversity studies

Development and public acceptance of GM approaches to strain improvement.

Capitalising on the UK expertise in molecular biology, synthetic biology and systems biology and bringing this to bear on improving algal strains.

Connecting high throughput and systems biology approaches with biology, gene technology in algae

Functional molecular biology and biotechnology applications

Implementing large-scale demonstrations, managing public concerns

Biofuels Improved bioreactors and strains Determining controls on marine photosynthesis Integrating process measurements and molecular insights into a

ecosystems biology of the dominant photoautotrophs Farming kelp – large scales UK can exploit its own natural resources Algal based biorefinery Technology of utilisation of algal polysaccharides, proteins and

nutrients for production of high value products. Addressing environmental issues E.g. for understanding eutrophication Genetics (improved cultivars), bioremediation (green tides). Macrocystis mass cultivation on Falkland Islands (see what is happening in Chile)

Freen tide affected coasts as sites for experimental remediation. industrial offshore activities (e.g. wind parks) – potential sites for macroalgal mass cultures

Climate change and biodiversity chanages Knowledge integration Carbon capture (big scale) , Meeting energy demand Excess CO2 in atmosphere that needs reducing: Profits?; Energy

or fuels from algal biomass could reduce/replace fossil fuels Table C.4.3: Challenges and Opportunities for Algal Research Given by Participants on a Timescale of 25 Years Each row corresponds to the entry of one questionnaire participant. Challenges – 25 year timescale Opportunities – 25 year timescale Growing and harvesting Major source of biomass for energy and chemicals Embedding algae systems into architecture Green cities and shading systems Construction of pilot plants and tackling the social-economic and engineering problems of scaling up

How to integrate algal devices into the environment – will electronic devices need to be re-engineered to be compatible?

Low cost power sources

Via interdisciplinary and international collaborations EC Using an understanding of basic macroalgal biology to exploit these algae for societal gain (food, fuel, pharmaceuticals)

New collaborations between “basic” biological scientists and engineers, mariculture experts, etc

Oceanic carbon capture Energy Integrating climate change scenarios into emerging technologies

To integrate the palaeontological record with ancient geochemical and modern biochemical data; to resolve the systematic relationships and early evolutionary patterns of cyanobacteria and eukaryotic algae; to determine the coevolutionary interplay between life and the planet.

Keen interest from geochemists and molecular biologists promises to shed important new multidisciplinary light on the early evolution of the Earth’s atmosphere, oceans and biosphere

Develop algae as a renewable energy source Optimised organisms with improved growth. Development of very large scale facilities for biomass/biofuel production

Integration of algal culture and understanding of aquatic ecosystems. integration of algal culture and understanding of aquatic ecosystem

Biodiversity Biodiversity Funding availability Biofuels, climate change, sustainability Algal Biofuel: Genetic Manipulations and Molecular Engineering

Efficient industrial harvesting Carbon Capture

85

Challenges – 25 year timescale Opportunities – 25 year timescale Better management of freshwater resources, including waste-water recovery and reuse

Demand-led pressures

Develop models for biofuels and biomass use for various end products. Develop models for assessing the impact of sustainability criteria

Deploy reliable technologies to convert algae biomass into advanced biofuels. Develop algae based biorefinery. Develop biomass and biofuel quality and monitoring system. Production of: - Models of biofuel market for algae - Models of feedstocks (i.e. differents algae strains) for various end-use scenarios - Models of sustainability criteria

Genetically modified microalgae able to synthesize biofuels, in particular hydrogen

Integration of the microalgae production industry into the hydrogen based economy planned by 2050

Long-term stability of full-scale plants Biological process and bioengineering Improvements in scale and productivity Industrial and commercial investigations Convince general public that GM / synthetic algae are not dangerous..!!!!

Biohydrogen farms

Synthetic Biology 1) Over-expression / knockdown of entire metabolic pathways in algae. Benefits: e.g. more efficient production of desired chemicals/proteins. 2) Most eukaryotic algal taxa have evolved based on secondary endosymbiosis, which provides a unique opportunity to identify the molecular toolkit for making autotrophic from heterotrophic organisms. Benefits: e.g. novel synthetic organisms that combine the advantages of being heterotrophic with an additional energy source etc.

Bioenergy Climate change studies Synthetic systems for solar energy conversion Response of marine food webs to environmental change Predict structure and functioning of marine food webs.

Sustainable use of natural resources. Bioenergy Fuel Algae as a resource Importance of algae in societal changes Increasing presence of alga in natural water systems and reservoirs

Approaches to, and methods for, controlling algal populations

As above (refers to 10 year timescale entry of same questionnaire

participant) but to at least 90%; plus increased food production

Quantifying algae functioning (carbon storage, nutrient processing etc)

Using algal communities to enhance carbon storage, clean water, cycle nutrients.

Aquatic system adaption to/alteration under global environmental change (e.g. algal communities, productivity, food webs, nutrient cycling)

Algal biofuels (full scale commercial reality)

Creating very large ponds without significant environment destruction

Potential for a wide variety of approaches (new developments should continue) to avoid devestation from leaks from a massive monoculture facility

Interactions between synthetic biology and algae Accelerated growth rate of high density, open ocean systems Replacement of conventional fossil oil production Engineering pathways Synthetic and Systems Biology Understanding adaptation mechanisms of key algal species. Long term forecasting of state of the marine biota

Global collaborations and networks

Sustainable resource of bioenergy, i.e. need to overcome threats to yields by biotic (eg. viruses) and abiotic (e.g. feedstocks, light, temp etc.) parameters.

New mechanisms of interactions

Possibly rediscovering algal taxonomy and that species (or at least individuals which function in a particular way or strains that are not poisonous etc) really do matter when it comes to everything. But hopefully this will have been remedied before that. Perhaps the obvious challenges will be the impact that climate change, ocean acidification etc will have had on algal resources.

It is hard to predict what new discoveries will be made between now and 25 years time, but no doubt they will be made. So it is really important to think strategically about the algae in the longer term, ways in which they can be conserved for the future (cf. seed banks), conservation of their environment now for the future etc. It’s important to keep an open mind about the potential and to plan laterally from research in other fields. It is possible that we will have bases on other planets by then and this could be where algae present opportunities.

86

Challenges – 25 year timescale Opportunities – 25 year timescale I fear that in 25 years time the exploitation of synthetic biology will be commonplace. I predict that biosecurity and protection of biodiversity will be an enormous ethical/ecological issue.

Develop biosecurity strategies well ahead of time. It is my personal view that we should be planning for this now while we still have time.

I cannot see this far ahead but probably still the above Effects of climate change on community functioning, eg movement of invasive species/algal phase shifts on reefs

Development of long-term monitoring programmes to identify changes in algal communities and distribution/expansion of invasive species

Biofuels Rigorous prediction of holistic Earth System processes, including algae related biogeochemistry and biodiversity, to inform decision makers on future planning and mitigation

Cost parity of algae and petroleum based fuels. UK synthetic biology capability Fuel shortages Work on algae will increase Scale up to the oceanic scale. PBRs, open ponds etc will not be enough

Use of existing infrastructure: oil rigs etc

Understanding the role of algae in controlling climate and climate change

Too far ahead: depends on outcomes from current wave of (probably overenthusiastic) investment in algal biotech. prospects for algal biofuels in particular seem overhyped: the environmental implications of large-scale biofuel production are enormous

Process control & management. Integrating nutrient supply waste management and oil/biomass production at a large scale capable of supplying a significant proportion of transport fuels

Commercial scale production of a suite of algal derived products (including fuels). In addition, integration of carbon sequestration/ recycling at a significant scale

Centres of production and scientific excellence in the far East (mostly China, Japan)

Process control & management. Integrating nutrient supply waste management and oil/biomass production at a large scale capable of supplying a significant proportion of transport fuels

Commercial scale production of a suite of algal derived products (including fuels). In addition, integration of carbon sequestration/ recycling at a significant scale

Algae as human foodstuff There are likely to be increased traditional food shortages due to more extreme weather events. Can algal cultivation help to fill this gap?

To have a fully integrated algal based industrial sector, that makes a significant contribution to the UK economy

Continued worries about global warming, energy security and dwindling sources of fresh water will all drive forward algal industries.

Self-repairing bioinspired machines Biofuels, other products Large-scale culture of engineered algae in open environmental systems (lakes, ocean)

How to control engineered organisms in the open environment

Integration in industrial waste management Industrial engagement, commercial development Producing algal crop species that can help us address some of the major environmental and social issues around fuel production, land and water utilization.

A green revolution in algal productivity could establish algae as a major world crop contributing significantly to fuel production and food security (by freeing up arable land).

Scale up on algal biofuel to industrial scale Work in collaboration with engineers from day one. Evolution of regulatory networks; genetic modification for industrial purposes

As above but ever more accurate, easier and cheaper to apply

On-going sustainable coastal development Stakeholder engagement Impacts of climate change Assessment of impact Algae as biologically customizable functional units Commercial uptake of G.M. (micro)algal technologies Expansion of large scale algal industries beyond low latitude

regions CO2 mitigation, food and feed Industrial algal biomass production of biofuels in conjunctions with production of co-product extraction as a marketable industry

Fine chemical production

87

Challenges – 25 year timescale Opportunities – 25 year timescale Good data sets to support effective modelling - this is a basic and recurrent problem in algal research, one upon which I’ve written and talked frequently over the 25+ yrs that I’ve worked in the subject area .. the acid test of our knowledge is whether we can model it properly and thence explore the multitude of possible scenarios which we can not seriously explore empirically. This is needed for all aspects from ecological biogeochemical work, to commercial exploitation. And that modelling effort is crippled repeatedly by poor and/or inadequate data collection conducted all too often in unsuitably designed experiments. Unless there is a real drive by people who understand this problem, and the opportunities that exist in solving it, then we will advance no where fast and continue to waste resources and time. I’ve repeated the challenges and opportunities because this is a cyclic problem, as it has been for the last 25+yrs!

Modelling of alternative scenarios

Broadening the base of macroalgal commercial opportunities / Application of molecular approaches to development of macroalgae as a commercial resource

Implementing desmids as a key management tool for monitoring threatened habitats

Routine genetic identification of individual cells from mixed field samples.

To understand what actually happens to cells in the sea (or lake), not just their physiology in a lab or a bottle. It is vital in a time of changing lake & ocean processes.

Making algal biofuel economical before the oil starts to run out!

A combined research effort with major industrial players such as the oil companies, airlines, engine manufacturers, car industries…

Loss of expertise in taxonomy, physiology and cell biology of algae

We need investment in education and development of post graduates and post-docs in interdisciplinary approaches

Enhancing photosynthesis Synthetic biology approaches Using algal bioenergy – technical challenges Large scale industry based on algal Large scale scCO2 extractors , sonicators, pyrolysis

technologies Understanding algal ecology. Development of bio-fuels For improving our understanding of algal ecology and for the

development of sustainable bio-fuels Domestication achieved, mass cultivation Industrial offshore activities (e.g. wind parks) – potential

sites for macroalgal mass cultures To follow distribution of desmid species in the UK Meeting energy demand

88

APPENDIX D – DETAILED ALGAE RESEARCH VALUE CHAINS IN THE UK To capitalise on the algal expertise in the UK and increase its impact and progression into application, it is important to connect the entire value chain for a particular algal product or service. Building on the overview given in Chapter 6, the sections below will sketch out aspects of R&D chains and their gaps for base and value added commodities, high value products, bioremediation services and integrative approaches. This is put in the context of current activity in the UK, and recommendations are made of how gaps can be addressed. D.1 Base commodities (high volume, low value – e.g. energy, feed) Both energy products and bulk animal feed fall into this category. So far there are no viable energy businesses based on algal biomass in the UK; applications based on biophotovoltaics are even further away from market. In terms of animal feed, seaweed is being harvested from the wild and sold e.g. as animal feed high in minerals (UK players include The Hebridean Seaweed company and Böd Ayre; c.f. Section 1.3.2.2 and Table 3.1), but volumes are low and so far limited by the fact that the seaweeds are harvested from the wild. Microalgal animal feeds are commercially successful as high-value speciality products (UK players include SeaSalter166

, Merlin BioDevelopments and Scottish Bioenergy; c.f. Section 1.3.1.2 and Table 3.1), and are being investigated as a general replacement for fish meal, but are currently not a bulk commodity yet. The RD&D value chains for micro- and macroalgae are outlined below:

D.1.1 Microalgae The primary goal is to optimise overall production pipeline to arrive at an economically viable and sustainable process. Growth: The aim is to maximise biomass yield in an economic and sustainable system. Engineering RD&D

• optimisation of growth system so fewest photons are lost (mostly PBR design and maintenance, including avoiding / combating fouling)

addresses:

• challenges of scale-up • integration with other industrial processes (e.g. producers of CO2, low grade waste heat, nutrient-rich waste

waters) • Life Cycle Analysis / Sustainability Assessment / Economic Assessment (together with other disciplines)

Biological RD&D

• efficiency of photon capture in the overall culture (e.g. by reducing the antenna size of each cell) aims at identifying suitable strains for each application, and increasing:

• solar conversion efficiency in each cell (e.g. by blocking wasteful energy sinks) • the percentage of desired fuel/feed molecule/component, either through choice of growth regime (e.g. N

starvation) or through metabolic engineering • culture stability during all seasons and throughout scale-up (disease and grazing control, algal communities, algal-

bacterial symbioses) • economic viability through design of low-cost media (e.g. modified version of AD liquid digestate)

Harvesting: The aim is to lower energy costs while not interfering with the desired downstream application. Different strains and applications will require different solutions. Examples include addition of chemical or biological flocculants and/or pH changes to increase particle size, flotation, advanced filtration, and electro-coagulation. Processing: Challenges vary depending on strain and final application. Unless the desired product is secreted, cells need to be permeabilised to extract the products; even if whole cells are used e.g. in feed applications, cracking them open is often required to increase bioavailability of nutrients. Permeabilisation can be achieved physically, chemically or enzymatically. Again it is vital to find low energy and low cost solutions which do not harm the desired molecules, and are compatible

166 They are currently still active, but are phasing their algal operations out.

89

with downstream separation techniques. Finally, efficient and economic ways to fractionate the cell components into desired products need to be developed. Legal context: Solutions found on all levels need to satisfy regulatory and permitting requirements. The Carbon Trust’s Algae Biofuels Challenge (c.f. Section 1.2.3.8) was set up to address the entire value chain, and to feed into a scale-up facility at phase 2. The overall challenge of making algal low-value products commercially viable can only be addressed in a holistic way that spans the entire pipeline, since improvements in one area (e.g. addition of a flocculant) may introduce difficulties in another area (e.g. interference of flocculant with separation of components). Cranfield’s SURF Project and Oasis Network, the Algal Bioenergy Consortium, BioMara, and the INTERREG EnAlgae Initiative (c.f. Section 1.2.3) address several aspects of the pipeline each, and major oil companies have confidential algal research projects in which UK universities participate. The NERC-TSB Algal Bioenergy Special Interest Group aims at providing a larger umbrella for all that R&D expertise, to link up initiatives and accelerate progress through fostering synergies. Current gaps: Major work is still necessary to make the economic case for algal energy and feed. It is highly unlikely that economic viability for low value bulk products will be achieved without developing an integrated biorefining approach, where inputs wherever possible are derived from byproducts of other industrial processes. Feasibility studies and the first stages of scale-up are necessary to test and develop these integrated approaches. To make sure that all scale-up plans are on a sound environmental footing, a larger body of data needs to be collected to inform LCAs and Sustainability Assessments, and the user-friendliness of tools needs to be improved. Furthermore, dialogue with the regulatory and permitting authorities needs to be developed to ensure that any requirements imposed on the fledgling industry are based on the most up-to-date facts and guided by common sense. D.1.2 Macroalgae The primary goal is increase capacity in an economically viable and sustainable manner. Growth: Current yields are limited since seaweed in the UK is to date mostly harvested from wild stocks. For seaweed to become a feedstock for bulk commodities, capacity needs to be increased through establishing seaweed farming on a larger scale. Challenges include:

• integration of engineering and biology in developing viable off-shore farms • development of a new sustainable industry • assessment and minimisation of environmental impact • control of grazers • integration with aquaculture • selective breeding • Life Cycle Analysis / Economic Assessment

Harvesting: Most seaweeds are currently hand-picked from the wild; for scale-up of seaweed farming ecologically sound equipment for mechanical harvesting needs to be developed. Processing: For energy products, the biomass can either be fed into Anaerobic Digestion, fermented to bioalcohols, or subjected to thermochemical conversion. R&D is required to increase the efficiency especially of fermentation. For feed applications, energy efficient ways to dry or otherwise preserve the biomass need to be developed. Legal context: Solutions found on all levels need to satisfy regulatory and permitting requirements. Most of the aspects above are addressed by the INTERREG projects BioMara and (to a lesser extent) EnAlgae (c.f. Section 1.2.3). Companies involved (chiefly The Hebredean Seaweed Company and Böd Ayre) are interested in contact with academia to address the challenges, and the Crown Estate plays a major role.

90

Current gaps: Before macroalgae can be considered as a feedstock for low value bulk commodities, evidence needs to be brought forward to show

• what scale of off-shore seaweed farming is justifiable considering the environmental impact • whether that scale could satisfy demand significantly beyond the increasing projected demand for higher value

applications such as fertilisers, speciality feeds, and feedstock for ‘ceuticals’. • improvements in crop yields through selective breeding and the expansion of culture banks to include macroalage

More test scale-up facilities are needed, to identify, assess and address the engineering, biological and ecological challenges. D.2 Added value commodities (high volume, added value compared to base commodities – e.g. platform chemicals) The use of algae as feedstock for platform chemicals is as yet unproven. To the author’s knowledge, one company in the UK, Spicer Biotech, is currently actively pursuing this potential for microalgae, and several UK research groups have this as a primary research interest (based on results of questionnaire: Aston, T Bridgwater; Cranfield, L De Nagornoff; Dundee, G Codd; Glasgow, J Clark, see Table C.2; also UCL, S. Purton (pers. comm.)). The challenges for the engineering aspects of the pipeline for macro- and microalgae are similar to those above; in terms of biological R&D, necessary steps include:

• identification of molecules already made by algae that are of interest (i.e. either already are platform chemicals, or are similar enough in functionality that they could replace current fossil-derived platform chemicals)

• survey of other platform chemicals currently derived from fossil resources: identification of which are most difficult to derive from bacterial / yeast based biotechnology

• clarification if pathways for those can be cloned into algal platforms, and if algal expression has benefits over bacterial / yeast systems

• if answer is yes, pursuit of cloning in joint industry-academia R&D projects, combined with life cycle and economic analyses

Current gaps: The biological know-how exists in principle of how to transform pathways for desired molecules into algal model organisms such as Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. It needs to be established, though, if using algae has an economic, functional or environmental advantage compared to alternative biotechnological approaches. Dialogue between industry and biologists is needed to identify best target molecules, ideally source them from already established algal strains, or otherwise employ metabolic engineering / synthetic biology or bioprospecting. If economic and sustainability analyses are promising, scale-up of production can be pursued. D.3 High value products (low volume, high value – speciality feeds / foods, nutraceuticals, cosmeceuticals, pharmaceuticals) Growing algae for high value products such as health foods, PUFAs and pigments is the only currently mature algal industry. In the UK, New Horizons Global Ltd produce DHA in a fermentation system near Liverpool; Supreme Biotechnologies Ltd, who have their headquarters in London, produce astaxanthin in New Zealand; All Seasons Health sell whole cell Spirulina and Chlorella grown in India and Taiwan as health foods, Seasalter Shellfish sell algae as speciality feed for aquaculture. Merlin BioDevelopments Ltd produce algae for nutraceuticals, and Scottish Bioenergy Ltd are pursuing algal growth for high value food and feed applications. Current gaps: Although the existence of viable businesses would indicate that the major gaps have been closed, there is potential for further development, including

• lowering costs of production, through integration with other processes

91

• growing new markets, especially through reducing price of products (it has been suggested that 5 grams per day of an alga such as Spirulina would aid substantially in combating malnutrition in children (Simpore et al. 2006)167

• integrative approaches for growth, and use of by-products )

• developing new products in addition to the established PUFAs, pigments and whole cell products, e.g. through bioprospecting, or (where appropriate) synthetic biology

D.4 Bioremediation services For microalgae, advanced Integrated Wastewater Pond Systems (AIWPS) for nutrient and heavy metal removal have been developed in the US since the 1960s (Green, Bernstone, Lundquist and Oswald 1996), and more recently, the Algal Turf Scrubber168

has been shown to treat soils contaminated e.g. with heavy metals and toxic hydrocarbons. However, in the UK these solutions appear not to have been taken up. For macroalgae, integration with aquaculture can offer considerable bioremediation benefits; however this is still also not in widespread use yet. There are hence clear gaps to be addressed in the UK context:

Current gaps, and recommended actions: • The reasons for lack of take-up of existing systems need to be identified. • If the reason is lack of awareness in the relevant industries (e.g. sewage works, life stock farms), information

needs to be offered. • A set of small-scale test / show-case facilities should be built to increase confidence of end users • Partner(s) to showcase technologies need to be identified. • Effectiveness, stability and user-friendliness of existing systems need to be improved. • Sound data to underpin reliable Life Cycle Analysis needs to be collected. • The algal community needs to work with regulators to provide clear guidelines and incentives, and enable optimal

use of biomass created. The INTERREG EnAlgae Programme (c.f. Section 1.2.3) aims at addressing some of the aspects above, and the water industry is beginning to show an interest through funding small-scale feasibility studies. D.5 Benefits of Integration Integration of algal growth with other industrial processes to make use of byproducts is essential to improve the economics and sustainability of algal production. This can happen on several levels: For microalgae:

Sourcing CO2 from flue gasses: Bottled CO2 is one of the major cost factors of algal cultivation, so clear economic benefits can be obtained after the cost of the needed infrastructure (pre-scrubbing of toxic components of the gas, and connection with adequate pressure and temperature regulation) has been recovered. Unless coccolithophores like Emiliania huxleyii are grown, which form calcified shells and therefore trap CO2 in a long-lasting form, the CO2 is cycled rather than captured, and a producer would be unable to claim any allowances under the CER or the EU ETS using algae. The environmental benefits are clear: not only algal scrubbing of flue gasses save the energy otherwise expended for CO2 bottling and transport, but algae also remove NOx.

Sourcing nutrients from waste water: For benefits of waste water treatment, see Section D.4; a key benefit in this area is provided by using liquid digestate from AD as a feedstock for algal growth media. Storage of liquid digestate for those periods of the year when spreading it as fertiliser is not permitted constitutes a serious bottle-neck for the scale-up of AD. Integration with algal growth provides a solution to this problem, while at the same time lowering the cost of producing algal biomass. In the simplest form the algal biomass could be used as feedstock for AD; in energy terms, this is one of the most efficient applications for algae, since no parasitic energy for dewatering is consumed. However, much greater financial returns can be gained by using the

167 Already in 1974 the United Nations World Food Conference lauded Spirulina as possibly the best food for the future; c.f. www.un.org/en/ecosoc/docs/statement08/iimsam.pdf 168 www.algalturfscrubber.com

92

algal biomass for e.g. feed applications, regulatory frameworks permitting. Similar integration could be sought with live stock farms producing nutrient-rich run-off, as well as in-land fish farms; algal biomass grown on farm could be used as feed, if HACCP procedures are followed.

Using low-grade waste heat to keep algal cultures warm: Productivity in the UK in winter is not only limited by available light levels, but also by temperature. Higher productivity can be achieved by keeping algal cultures at their preferred temperature; this would be expensive unless low grade heat can be used that is not otherwise used. Further financial benefits for such use of heat might be obtained through the Renewable Heat Incentive. For macroalgae:

Integrated approach: Nutrients for enhancing macroalgal growth can be obtained from the waste produced by fish; benefits include cleaner water and higher yields of algae. There is also pollution abatement, coastal protection, fertiliser production and production of other raw materials or food.

Removing atmospheric CO2: Like any plant, macroalgae require CO2 to grow, at current levels of cultivation macroalgae removes approximately 0.7 million tons per year of carbon from the sea. There would have to be a dramatic increase in cultivation of macroalgae for it to have an impact on total carbon emissions. A 1000km-2 area could sequester up to 1 million tons CO2 per year.

No pressure on freshwater supplies: The utilisation of the marine environment as opposed to the terrestrial for biomass production circumvents the problem of switching agricultural land from food to fuel production. The potential quantity of biomass produced in the marine environment is also not limited by the available freshwater supplies coupled to the potential benefits to the fishing industry by the additional habitat that cultivated seaweed could provide. Current gaps: This field is budding, and both industry and academia are working on addressing some remaining major gaps, including

• economics:•

working out the true savings achievable by various integrated systems regulation:

•

to ensure that use of (safe / non-toxic) byproducts does not impede use of algal biomass for high value applications legislation:

• setting up test / show-case facilities as a first step to scale-up

under the CER or the EU ETS using algae producer currently would be unable to claim any allowances for capturing / cycling CO2 via algal growth; this is an unreasonable obstacle which needs to be overcome by lobbying for changing CER and EU ETS.

• close collaboration and increased mutual understanding between engineers and biologists to address the challenges of scale-up

• limited information on the positive or negative environmental effects of large-scale cultivation The INTERREG projects EnAlgae and BioMara (c.f. Section 1.2.3) endeavour to address aspects of the above; and several companies work in this space, including: Loch Duart, who are using integrated aquaculture combining sea urchin, seaweed and salmon farming, Merlin BioDevelopment Ltd, Scottish Bioenergy Ltd and Boots PLC working with PMLA, who are all actively developing integrated microalgal systems, and BioGroup Ltd, who are in the process of setting up algal growth in conjunction with their AD facility (c.f. Section 1.3.1.2).