🏂Introducing microalgae snowboards
PLUS Blue Ocean Barns raises $20M, our fireside chat with Corinna Bellizzi, and implementing microalgal biochar for water treatment
"To create a sustainable and thriving future, we need so many more commitments from company executives around the world." — Corinna Bellizzi, Örlö Nutrition
Dear algae technologists - hello and welcome to The Paxtier Report!
To start this email, let me introduce you to the Bucca:
The Bucca is a male sea-spirit from Cornish folklore. Thought to be some sort of storm god, this creature has a tangle of seaweed for hair, and will often assist fishermen during their time at sea.
In today’s report:
Markets: 🏂Making microalgae snowboards
Deals: 🤝Blue Ocean Barns raises $20M in Series A funding
Research Rundown: 🧪Implementing microalgal biochar for water treatment
Fireside Chats: 💬Corinna Bellizzi, Head of US Sales and Marketing for Örlö Nutrition.
Around the web: ⚽How Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Karim Benzema all eat seaweed to stay in top shape.
Markets and Investing
🏂Making microalgae snowboards
This week, it was all about microalgae snowboards as WNDR Alpine – the outdoor brand launched by Checkerspot – announced the release of its first two snowboards: the BelleTour splitboard and the BelleAire solid.
These are the first snowboards on the market featuring the brand’s AlgalTech® materials derived from microalgae oil.
Checkerspot explained
Checkerspot’s WING Platform optimises microalgae to biomanufacture oils which are later turned into new materials.
This launch represents an important step forward in WNDR Alpine’s mission to bring the outdoor industry together around biobased, performance-focused materials.
And here’s what Matt Sterbenz, ski industry veteran and Checkerspot’s GM of Wintersports had to say:
I see backcountry skiers and snowboarders as one community, inspired by nature, with shared goals and interests.
This launch is one we’ve been building up to since Day 1. We launched in 2019 knowing the importance of building a diverse pool of talent capable of expanding the applications of our technology, and now every backcountry athlete stands to benefit from these innovations.
✂️Algae Market Snippets
Some other big moves this week:
Blue Ocean Barns, the Hawaii-based ag-tech company, just raised $20M in Series A funding. The round was led by Valor Siren Ventures, with participation from Tao Capital Partners and strategic investors. The company intends to use the funds to expand its tank-based farming, harvesting, processing operations, and commercial adoption of Brominata™, the seaweed-based digestive aid for cattle. This seaweed product has been shown in published research and on-farm trials to safely eliminate more than 80 percent of cows' methane production.
But why does this matter? Well, depending on which study you look at, the global food value chain is responsible for about 30% of global greenhouse gas emissions. 🐄 ✈️ And check out this graph comparing emissions from different food sources:
(Read more HERE.)
New Wave Foods® Names Co-Founder Michelle Wolf CEO: “When I co-founded New Wave Foods, I wanted to create a popular plant-based shrimp that would meet the rising consumer interest in sustainable food and the evolving needs of foodservice operators,” said Wolf. “I’m excited to continue in this role and build our portfolio to include more delicious options.” (Read more HERE).
Aquabyte Closes $25M Series B Funding: Aquabyte's smart underwater camera connects to a machine learning platform which gives aquaculture farms unprecedented insight into the health, growth, and sustainability of their produce. (Read more HERE).
DKP Riau Islands: Singapore and South Korean Investors interested in seaweed business. Head of the Riau Islands Province Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Service (DKP Kepri) Tengku Said Arif Fadillah said that a number of investors from Singapore and South Korea were interested in establishing a seaweed business in the region. (Read more HERE).
Arizona Algae Products, LLC and Nooter/Eriksen, Inc. announce partnership in development and commercialisation of extracted and refined algae products. “The integration of the Nooter/Eriksen engineering process and extraction know-how with Arizona Algae’s algae cultivation expertise allows us both to focus on our core competencies and produce specialized innovative products” said Piero Scapini, President of Nooter/Eriksen. “The partnership expands our reach and demonstrates our commitment to add value to sustainable products.”(Read more HERE).
Liqoflux unveil new line of algae concentration units. With our new LiqoCap filters we deliver best in class algae harvesting results: stable high dewatering flux, high algae concentrations, 100% algae biomass recovery, clean filtrate water, and fully automated. This new Liqoflux product line includes solutions for low algae culture test & pilot volumes to very high production volumes. (Read more HERE).
Coastal Cultivars, an all-natural, sustainable, sun-grown cannabis farm in Massachusetts, announced it will be using a new, all-natural, ultra-premium soil developed by Coast of Maine. The soil will be used as the primary growth medium for Coastal Cultivars' No.9 Sunflower Collection brand of cannabis products. This ultra-premium soil contains mycorrhizal fungi, kelp, and alfalfa meal, as well as peat, coconut fiber and compost. (Read more HERE)
The Tasmanian Liberal Government is investing over $540,000 in a project that aims to reduce livestock emissions while boosting productivity.
Sea Forest is a Tasmanian company that is developing the culture, harvest and commercialisation of Asparagopsis, an Australian native seaweed that has the ability to reduce methane emissions in cattle by up to 98 per cent.
With funding announced this week, the project will seek to develop a commercial formulation for a seaweed-based feed supplement that can be fed to cattle and sheep to reduce their methane emissions and deliver productivity gains. Industry is co-investing over $670,000 in the project which will involve on-farm trials of different Asparagopsis pellet formulations. (Read more HERE).
Social Venture Marine Innovation signs a contract with French brand ARGO to export eco-friendly plates and cups: Marine Innovation, a social venture that has been recognized for its eco-friendly technology in South Korea, is expanding its overseas business in full swing. The company announced to have signed a three-year contract with French brand ARGO for the export of eco-friendly plates and cups using seaweed materials. The value of this contract is said to be worth 3 million Euros in total. (Read more HERE.)
Alaska Fish News: State attracts 20 Alaska aqua-farm applications: Twenty applications for Alaska aquatic farm permits were received by the state by the April 30 deadline. Of those, two are for shellfish only, 16 are for kelp only, and two are shellfish and kelp combinations. (Read more HERE).
Andfjord Salmon, Skretting and Zooca® (Calanus® AS) team up for specially designed salmon feed. These guys have signed a letter of intent that facilitates the provision of a specifically designed salmon feed for Andfjord Salmon and a long-term cooperation to increase the utilisation of the zooplankton Calanus finmarchicus (Calanus) in salmon feed. (Read more HERE).
In depth with Peter Green
💬 Movers and Shakers: Corinna Bellizzi, Örlö Nutrition
This week, I had the pleasure of sitting down with Corinna Bellizzi, Head of US Sales and Marketing for Örlö Nutrition.
Corinna is a natural products industry executive and omega-3 expert, who spent much of her career formulating with, marketing and selling omega-3 essential fatty acids sourced from fish.
Over time, as her passion for sustainability grew, and she became more concerned about shrinking wild food resources, Corinna felt the need to change direction. And in 2016, she turned her attention to sustainable algae omega-3 production.
This transition ultimately led to her appointment as Head of US Sales and Marketing for Örlö Nutrition, a new brand by VAXA Technologies, where she leads development of the world’s first carbon-negative omega-3 product.
VAXA Technologies harness the full potential of algae through AI optimised growing conditions at a high-tech, Icelandic aquaculture planthouse.
And in this teaser from our recent chat, Corinna and I explore Örlö’s potential future impact, advice for others in algae, and great books worth reading.
How big an impact can Örlö Nutrition have on the future of sustainable business?
I firmly believe that this company can pave the way for next generation sustainable brands. And I’m very grateful that they’ve given me the freedom to create something very meaningful here. Thanks to this support, I hope Örlö can play a pivotal part in driving the conversation forward in the circular business space.
What advice would you give to others in this domain?
During my time at Nordic Naturals, I was one of the first people championing algal omega-3. And for the longest time, I’ve been advising fish oil manufacturers to follow suit and consider more sustainable options for their brands.
That's the piece of advice I would give to anyone in this space - it's your responsibility to get ahead of the trend and acknowledge where things are going.
Which books do you recommend the most?
It may not revolve around sustainability, but I often recommend the book Good to Great by Jim Collins. You can implement the lessons from this book in any domain because it constantly encourages you to do better.
Another great book is Regeneration by Paul Hawkins, which has helped me explore new ways to make a positive environmental impact.
If you’d like to learn more about Corinna, be sure to check out her podcasts – Nutrition Without Compromise and Care More Be Better, where she shares science-based nutrition and stories of inspired people that are committed to great health for both people and the planet.
📝Research Rundown: Implementing microalgal biochar for water treatment
THE BIG IDEA
To develop a circular society, we must learn to sustainably recover and recycle finite nutrients like phosphorus from wastewater.
And in recent years, struvite crystallisation has become a particularly appealing way to recuperate these minerals.
But scientists have run into various bottlenecks with the standard crystallisation approach. And that’s why this week, Nageshwari et al. turned to microalgae biochar.
Find out how below:
How does it work?
Retrieval of phosphorus from wastewater in the form of struvite could help us solve the leaky P cycle, while also preventing harmful algae blooms.
And this week, Nageshwari et al. explain in Nature how this process can be enhanced by seeding struvite crystal nucleation using microalgae biochar, and leveraging an "integrated electrocoagulation-flotation (ECF) process".
Ultimately
This process resulted in a 98% harvesting efficiency, and 28% magnesium surface impregnation. In addition, the team were able to recover 93.7% of the available phosphorus, and all of this could be re-used as a self-sustainable, organic and direct-use fertiliser for plant crops.
Most importantly, the overall operating cost of this integrated process was found to be 2.48 USD kg−1 with a total energy consumption of 10.76 kWh kg−1. And this is significantly lower than conventional harvesting unit processes such as centrifugation and filtration.
🔥 What else was hot in algae-tech this week?
(Paper) Effects of extraction methods for a new source of biostimulant from Sargassum horneri on the growth of economically important red algae, Neopyropia yezoensis. (Nature)
The Surprising Consequences of a Seaweed Switcheroo: In the ocean off southwest England, cold-water kelp is being replaced by a warm-water species, with profound effects for the local ecosystem. (Read more HERE)
Algae biopanel windows make power, oxygen and biomass, and suck up CO2: Beautifully designed, energy-generating bio-panels that suck up carbon dioxide and pump out biomass for use as fuel or fertilizer – that's the idea behind Mexican startup Greenfluidics and its nanotech-enhanced microalgae bioreactor building panels. (Read more HERE)
Gas for Climate publishes updated biomethane production potentials for EU Member States: This is the first analysis of specific biomethane potentials per country that has applied a unified methodology at the European level. While algae doesn’t get a real deep dive, we are introduced to the idea of harnessing seaweed for biomethane production. For example, “Even more biomethane potential can be unlocked by looking at additional feedstocks (e.g. biomass from marginal or contaminated land and seaweed). Unfortunately, these feedstocks were not included in this study as limited data is available, or otherwise not yet consolidated at a European level, but would further add to the potential. (Read more HERE).
(Paper) New study dives deep into the sustainability of an alternative aquaculture feed ingredient (Read more HERE)
Lipid-fortified algae oil: Promise as a sustainable, vegan omega-3 option. Algae is the primary nutrition source for marine organisms. These aquatic plants are the source of EPA and DHA in fish and krill. Its discovery prompted research on algal-based oil as a potential sustainable substitute for krill and fish oil, and as a source for omega-3 fatty acids. (See more HERE)
Fishing for a Purpose: Refitting offshore platforms to transform the planet and the economy. Retired GOM oil platforms offer potential homes for carbon capture and storage (CCS), seawater mineral mining, seaweed/macroalgae for energy-feedstock and other sustainable options. (Read more HERE).
The European Commission (EC) invites innovative and sustainable algae-based solutions and products for uses such as human consumption, animal feed, wastewater treatment, or applications for agriculture to the market. Applicants must be established in the Member States of the European Union or low- and middle-income countries. Applications have to be submitted by 27 September 2022. (Read more HERE).
The alt-seafood startup that seeks to catalyse the Irish seaweed sector: Jennifer O’Brien, founder of Sea and Believe, explains how childhood kelp baths not only restored her health but also helped to sow the seeds of this algae-based alt-seafood startup. (Read more HERE).
Investing in ocean start-ups provides triple bottom-line returns. A guest blog from Eric Siegel, chief innovation officer for Canada’s Ocean Frontier Institute and the executive in residence at CDL-Oceans. (Read more HERE).
Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Karim Benzema all share a seaweed diet. In an interview with Informalia newspaper, chef Alberto Mastromatio revealed a food ingredient that he always likes to add to the meals of footballers he works with, such as Karim Benzema, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. (Read more HERE).
Acadian Plant Health Continues to Deliver Innovative Biostimulant Solutions: Headquartered in eastern Canada, Acadian Plant Health has staff in 15 countries and sales in more than 80 countries around the world. The company utilises seaweed extracts – specifically those derived from Ascophyllum nodosum marine plants – to optimize plant growth, from root development to post-harvest, by improving plant establishment, abiotic stress resistance, and nutrition in plants. Agribusiness Global interviewed David Hiltz, co-chair of the Biostimulant Innovation Committee at the Biological Products Industry Alliance (BPIA) and the Director of Global Regulatory Affairs at Acadian Plant Health, to learn how Acadian is advancing the case for biostimulants. (Read more HERE)
This Floating ‘Tutu' Could Be a Family-Friendly Way to Protect Boston From Floods. A proposed new floating park could let Bostonians walk and bike along the shoreline while simultaneously protecting the coast from flooding caused by climate change. "The floating biomass, with marsh grass above the waterline and sinewy seaweed below, dampens incoming wave energy and retards storm surge in order to reduce crisis flooding ashore," the project's website says. "But it also draws people to down to the coastline in fair weather; its green landscapes and floating pathways enable public access to new waterfronts." (Read more HERE).
🐦Tweet of the week
That’s all folks!
Thanks again for joining us this week. Hope you have a great day and stay tuned for more algae tech updates soon!
Peter