Breakout Session

Regulatory/Policy

Session 1-9

Philip Pienkos/NREL

Grant Heffelfinger/SNL

December 9, 2008

Presented at the National Algal Biofuels Technology Roadmap Workshop Conference, 9-11 December 2008, University of Maryland NREL/PR-510-45619

NREL is a national laboratory of the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, operated by the Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC.
Barriers & Goals

• What were the major goals this session 

wants to include in the report?

– Establish clear regulatory framework to guide 

development

– Establish policies based on sustainability of 

algal biofuels
Regulatory framework

Algal strains

–Algal strain developed

•Indigenous vs. non indigenous

•GMO

•EPA and USDA share regulatory responsibility

• Definitions for algae

–Invasive species

–Weed

–Biohazard

•Toxic algae should either not be considered or should have burden of 

proof that cultivation can be controlled and that risk/reward is 

appropriate

–Deliberate growth is one thing but what if toxic algae outcompetes

–Take advantage of years of experience safe cultivation of algae

»GRAS

»Black list vs white list: regulatory battle shaping up in TX (prefer the 

former)

• Containment: process will affect impact of regulation 
Regulatory framework

Other technical issues

–Classification of venture

• Agricultural

• Industrial

• Each brings own set of regulations (Agricultural may be less burdensome

• Likely extraction/processing will drive to industrial but may be possible to 

subdivide organization to include both

–Ecosystem impact

• Massive engineering

• Destruction of habitat for local flora and fauna

• Federal lands vs public lands

–Water usage

• 250 gal water for each gal oil

• Provide perspective

–Corn irrigation

–Ethanol production

–Cattle farming

–Infrastructure

• CO2 delivery

• Product transport
Regulatory framework

Overlapping agencies

–Overlapping regulatory agencies

•EPA, USDA, FDA

•Fed, State, local

•Some states wish to be algae-friendly; will others follow?

• Uncertainty and risk on part of industry

–Industry standards

•ABO

•Fuel producer standards

–Timing for attention to regulations

•If animal feed byproduct credit is essential for business plan, must 

begin inquiries now

• Cellulosic assumed potential for animal feed entry and are behind 

curve with FDA

–Cost of meeting regulatory challenges

•Expensive

•Each individual agency brings cost in terms of time and money
Policy

Lesson from other biofuels

–Sustainability first, last, and always

•LCA will lead the way to address many regulatory issues

•Will drive policy decisions

•If LCA for algal biofuels significantly better than cellulosic 

ethanol, expect big push to accelerate development

–Incentives

•Must learn from past mistakes especially from corn ethanol

•RSF mandates were not written with algae in mind.

•Incentives must be performance based and not based on 

production or some other metric that can be gamed
Policy

Risk mitigation

–Federal government role to reduce uncertainty

•Tax incentives

•Loan guarantees

•Market incentives (think outside the box, e.g. strategic fuel 

reserve for biofuel

•If uncertainty reduced, private investments more likely

•Path to commercialization is extremely costly; incentives must 

be scaled accordingly

–Policy towards IP

•IP position important for nascent industry

•Chokehold technologies could become impediment for strategic 

national need.

•CAFI
Policy

Address value chain

–Policy must be inclusive

•Energy security

•Job creation

•Fuel

•Feed

•Chem. Feedstock

•CO2 mitigation
Policy

Many levels

–Policy towards algal biofuels on many levels

• R&D policy including support for academic research

–Grass roots support for technical training

»Fundamental algae biology

»Systems biology will be needed

»Applied biologists for workers in commercial algal cultivation 

–Competitiveness with other countries

• Resource use policy

–Competition for federal land usage (BLM)

–Competition for water or nutrient usage

• State policies (welcome algae facilities for job creation and tax revenues

• End user policies

–Pay for play

–Algae cultivation and processing as inexhaustible oil field

–Algal lipids in pipelines

–Fuel standards

• International policies

–Foreign governments may be more receptive to algal biofuel development than US
Interfaces

• Algal biology: What are potential 

biohazards?

• Cultivation: Will any cultivation method 

other than dark fermentation provide 

sufficient containment to satisfy 

regulators?

• Oil companies: What are regs for 

transport of algal lipids in pipelines?
Contentious/Controversial Topics

• What were the topics that sparked the 

most heated exchanges and/or differences 

of opinion.

– State by state differences for regulations

• VA vs TX

– Black List vs. White List
Recommendations

• Traverse regulatory landscape in parallel 

with technical development

• Hope for the best with LCA of cellulosic 

ethanol to provide boost for biofuels 

industry; expect that algal biofuels will be 

even better

• Base policy on carefully conducted 

sustainability analysis