I-Corps Teams: Pathways to Market for ICARUS Algae Cultivation and Harvesting Technology

全球依赖化石燃料的日子屈指可数，因为供应无法持续跟上需求。必须开发下一代燃料，以保护我们的生活质量、环境和钱包。虽然微藻生物燃料是化石燃料的一种有前途的替代品，但大规模种植和加工的许多瓶颈阻碍了该行业的发展。这些技术挑战包括减少由于食草动物入侵造成的养殖崩溃，提供经济上可行的营养物质，利用边际土地，以及增加养殖密度以降低加工成本。为了解决这些问题，I-Corps团队开发了一种称为“利用选择性隔离培养藻类资源（ICARUS）”的培养方法。“ICARUS是一种利用废水培养微藻的膜基方法，克服了大规模生产的许多挑战。拟议的技术有可能影响公共部门（废水处理厂）、私营部门（大规模藻类生产设施、生物质加工设施、生物燃料设施）和学术界（新藻类菌株的研发）。混合技术将鼓励USEPA（废水处理）和USDOE（藻类生物燃料开发）的协同目标的整合，同时为在国民经济的多个重要部门接受培训的尖端劳动力创造新的机会。拟议技术的成功商业化可以使废水处理净能量为正，同时使藻类生物燃料与化石燃料相比具有成本竞争力。ICARUS还为藻类生物燃料生产提供了一个独特的公私营商业模式平台，通常规避风险的处理厂可以从提供额外处理的高效技术中受益。

The days of global dependence on fossil fuels are numbered, as supply cannot sustainably keep up with demand. Next generation fuels must be developed to protect our quality of life, environment, and wallets. Although microalgal biofuels are a promising alternative to fossil fuels, many bottlenecks in large scale cultivation and processing are holding back the industry. These technical challenges include reducing culture collapse due to the invasion of grazers, providing economically viable nutrients, taking advantage of marginal land, and increasing culture density to reduce processing costs. To address these issues, this I-Corps team has developed a cultivation method called the "Isolated Cultivation of Algal Resource Utilizing Selectivity (ICARUS)." ICARUS is a membrane-based method for cultivating microalgae using wastewater, a method that overcomes many of the challenges of large-scale production.The proposed technology has the potential to impact the public sector (wastewater treatment plants), the private sector (large-scale algal production facilities, biomass processing facilities, biofuel facilities), and academia (R&D of new algal strains). The hybrid technology will encourage an integration of the synergistic goals of the USEPA (wastewater treatment) and the USDOE (development of algae biofuel), meanwhile creating new opportunities for a cutting edge workforce trained in multiple sectors essential to the national economy. Successful commercialization of the proposed technology could make wastewater treatment net energy positive, while making algal biofuels cost-competitive with fossil fuels. ICARUS also provides a platform for a unique public-private business model for algae biofuel production, where typically risk-averse treatment plants may benefit from efficient technology providing additional treatment.