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Role of SMEs in the energy sector in relation to biofuels At the global scale there is much research on the use of algae for energy. In the US large start-ups like Sapphire, Solazyme and Algenol are attracting serious amounts of venture capital. In Europe companies like AlgaEnergy (Spain), Alvigor (Germany), LGem (The Netherlands) are working on production of algae fuels. Wageningen Univerity (The Netherlands) has a large research facility called AlgaePARC. For macroalgae (seaweed) almost all research is aimed at the large scale cultivation for the production of biofuel in combination with the production of proteins and chemical building blocks. The research for microalgae is mainly based on venture capital. Only a few algae strains are coming from the marine environment.  In the energy field Statoil has invested in research in the cultivation of seaweed in Chile and the conversion of seaweed in the US Bio Architecture Lab (BAL). BAL has found that seaweed could be used as a resource for ethanol production, using genetically altered enzymes182;    In Europe Novozyme is working in this area183; In Norway the company SES is working on commercial viable cultivation methods184; Hortimare (the Netherlands) is working on the improvement of the propagation methods of macroalgae. Apart from several seaweed research projects there is only limited commercial interest for the energy options, simply because the production is currently too expensive. Most economic activities focus on value chains with higher value products than energy. Products and services offered currently and their future prospects In Europe the marine biomass sector is still in a research phase. No commercial production of energy is taken place. In the microalgae sector there is some commercial production for demonstration projects in the transport sector (i.e. aviation). It is not clear if this is based on marine microalgae. Seaweed bioethanol is produced in Japan, as part of the Ocean Sunrise Project and farming and harvesting Sargassum horneri. This project proposes to use around 4.5 million km2 of unused areas of the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and maritime belts of Japan. Different types of seaweed produce different yields of bioethanol and different locations, influenced by seawater nutrition, and seasons result in different growth. Drivers and barriers in the energy sector The main driver for the production of 3rd generation biofuels is the expected high value in the European market. The market for bioplastics is driven by companies like Coca Cola investing in projects like Plant Bottle. The market for biodegradable plastics is driven by environmental concerns and public procurement programs. The potential for both industrial platform chemicals and biofuels is large. The main challenge is to develop low cost and large scale production of raw material (seaweed). Research on mechanical cultivation is currently done in Ireland, the UK, Norway, France, Denmark, Belgium and the Netherlands. This research is out of the scope of this Blue Biotechnology study. Outside Europe Japan, the US, Canada and Chile are also active in the research for low cost mechanised seaweed cultivation. 182 See http://www.biofuelsdigest.com/bdigest/2010/09/16/statoil-invests-partners-with-bal-in-macroalgae-how-big-will-big-algaebe/ 183 See http://www.novozymes.com/en/news/news-archive/Pages/From-seaweed-to-biofuels.aspx 184 See http://www.seaweedenergysolutions.com/ 144 Study in support of Impact Assessment work on Blue Biotechnology

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