Unrest within the algae community was blooming following the release of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) 2011 update of the Billion Ton Study projecting biomass supply for the bioenergy and bioproducts industries. The reason for the unrest was that algae biomass was not considered. The report, an update of the Billion Ton Study undertaken by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the DOE in 2005, projects that that the U.S. will have between 1.1 billion and 1.6 billion tons of available and sustainable biomass - not including algae - by 2030.
In answer to a question on its "Bioenergy: Knowledge Discovery Framework" website (www.nationalalgaeassociation.com) as to why the study did not include estimates for algal biomass, DOE officials responded: "Algal biomass was not included in the 2011 U.S. Billion Ton Update because there was insufficient data to estimate and project the availability of algal feedstocks with any degree of accuracy. The Department of Energy (DOE) Biomass Program is funding an initial strategic national assessment of the resource potential of algae grown for biofuels, but more work is needed before there are enough credible public data to consider algal biomass to the same level of detail as terrestrialbased feedstocks in the U.S. Billion Ton Update." Data will need to be evaluated under different daily and seasonal temperatures, solar resource regimes, as well as weather-related events.
The DOE officials noted that a recent study conducted by the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, sponsored by the DOE Biomass Program, indicates a U.S. potential of several billion gallons of additional renewable fuels from algae that can be produced on lands with poor soil quality using nonfresh water. "This resource assessment will serve as a foundation on which to conduct more thorough national assessments as more data become available."
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