Industrial Algae Measurements 8.0
by Mark R. Edwards (Algae Industry Magazine) he new report, Industrial Algae Measurements 8.0, was released by the ABO Technical Standards Committee at the 11th Algae Biomass Summit (ABS) in Salt Lake City this month. The IAM 8.0collaboration represents contributions of over 30 universities, private companies, and national laboratories over the past seven years. Hundreds of hours have been invested in IAM 8.0, which is available for free download at the ABO site. The prior report, IAM 7.0 is also still available.
IAM 8.0 describes the current state of the art metrics, policy and regulatory environments relevant to the development and growth of a successful algae industry. The descriptive parameters provide algae and related industries and academic groups with a common language and critical parameters for the evaluation of technologies currently being commercialized.
The methodologies, metrics, and descriptions encompass the full spectrum of algae production. These include autotrophic, heterotrophic, open pond, photobioreactor, and open water production, as well as harvest and conversion processes for microalgae, macroalgae, and cyanobacteria. The input/output measurements allow for economic projections, through techno-economic analyses, and sustainability calculations through life cycle assessments, (LCA).
Inputs include the carbon, water, energy, and nutrients required by the algae, as well as land requirements, process consumables, and human resources required by the infrastructure. Green Box outputs include the different classes of algae products as well as industrial waste emissions including gas, liquid, and solid discharges. Together, the measured inputs and outputs generically carve out the total economic and environmental footprint of algae operations. Identifying this total footprint will become increasingly central in the funding, regulatory, and sustainability review of an expanding algae industry. These issues define the commercial viability of specific ventures.
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