On September 8, 2017, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) selected an additional four Productivity Enhanced Algae and Toolkits (PEAK) projects to receive up to $8.8 million.  The projects aim to develop high-impact tools and techniques that will increase the productivity of algae organisms to reduce the costs of producing algal biofuels and bioproducts.  In total, DOE has awarded over $16 million in funding to the initiative.

The project winners include:

• Colorado School of Mines, in partnership with Global Algae Innovations, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, and Colorado State University, which will use advanced directed evolution approaches in combination with high-performance, custom-built, solar simulation bioreactors to improve the productivity of robust wild algal strains;
• University of California, San Diego, which will work with Triton Health and Nutrition, Algenesis Materials, and Global Algae Innovations on the development of genetic tools, high-throughput screening methods, and breeding strategies for green algae and cyanobacteria, targeting robust production strains;
• University of Toledo, in partnership with Montana State University and the University of North Carolina, which will cultivate microalgae in high-salinity and high-alkalinity media to achieve productivities without needing to add concentrated carbon dioxide, and deliver molecular toolkits, including metabolic modeling combined with targeted genome editing; and
• Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, which will ecologically engineer algae to encourage growth of bacteria that efficiently remineralize dissolved organic matter to improve carbon dioxide uptake and simultaneously remove excess oxygen.

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On March 11, 2016, Solazyme announced a name change to reflect a new focus on food, nutrition, and specialty ingredients instead of biofuels. TerraVia (TerraVia), as Solazyme is now known, will create value in plant-based food through a transformational algae innovation platform. TerraVia will focus on developing AlgaVia^® Whole Algae ingredients (lipid rich powder and protein) and AlgaWise Algae Oils, as well as consumer food products that currently include Thrive^® Culinary Algae Oil. The Company will also focus on animal nutrition ingredients and personal care ingredients, including AlgaPur Oils. The fuels, industrial oils, and Encapso business previously run by Solazyme have been moved to a unit called Solazyme Industrials, which is likely to be sold off. This shift towards high-value, low volume product areas is not surprising given the current low oil prices that are hurting biofuel profits, and is a key component in the continued success of the biobased industry.

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