Barriers to Scale: Algae Crop Protection Workshop — April 20-21, 2021 — ONLINE

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) will host a virtual workshop on April 20–21, 2021, covering the topic of algae crop protection to facilitate scaling of the algae industry. A major barrier to the scaling and intensification of algal cultivation is the partial or complete loss of productivity due to pests, just like traditional farming. Developing effective strategies to maintain harvest yield over time is essential to meeting BETO’s long-term goals of promoting cost competitive biofuels and bioproducts.
The workshop will convene experts in algal research and production, as well as from those outside the industry such as regulatory bodies and agriculture/aquaculture experts, to discuss where comparable issues have been solved or solutions are under development, and where areas of synergy may exist.
This workshop aims to explore strategies for reducing the impact of pests on culture stability, biomass quality, and realized productivity. Discussions will be facilitated to accomplish the following goals:
- Identifying the gaps in current knowledge, research, and technical capabilities
- Fostering collaboration between basic, applied, and commercial researchers
- Determining regulatory factors for crop protection at scale
- Establishing strategies to overcome technical barriers.
BREAKOUT SESSIONS
The stakeholder sessions will include five expert panel and breakout group discussions:
- Current State of Crop Protection
- Alternative Crop Protection Approaches to Chemicals and Pesticides
- Understanding Pest Life Cycles and Infection Mechanisms
- Current and Future Pest Monitoring Practices
- Developing Scalable, Economic, and Consumer-Accepted Pest Management Practices.
REGISTRATION
The workshop is free, though advanced registration is required by April 12, 2020. READ MORE