Reviewer Comments - EERE

2011 Algae Platform Review – Reviewer Comments
Reviewer Comments are direct transcripts of commentary and material provided by the Platform’s
Review Panel. They have not been edited or altered by the Biomass Program.
composition is a function of species and growth conditions. Of the limitless combinations to test, their
focus on "production" strains is sensible, but still the growth conditions and any hypothesized
mechanisms to control composition are not discussed. In addition, what are the backup plans in case
biomass production falls short of the needs for the rest of the research?
The lab QAQC and analytical methods development work will put the project on a good footing from the
start. More data were presented from this young project than from more established projects. But what are
the details of the plans to develop real-time high-throughput methods for compositional analysis?
Projections should be prepared on the economics of using enzymes, ionic liquids, etc. to be used as a
baseline to evaluate performance and long-term prospects of the processes being developed. An estimate
should be made for each process and envisioned integrated processes. The initial projections will no
doubt be unfavorable, but this will help in planning the course of process development. Economic
performance projections should be re-evaluated periodically as the results come in.
The commercial partners should be expected to allow complete review and inspection of the data they
generate in order to maintain confidence in the results.
Reviewer: 5
Very nice presentation of a multi-institutional project.
Reviewer: 6
The best consortium presentations by far.
Reviewer: 7
The concepts of hydrolyzing and fermenting algae and lipid extracted algae are potentially enabling for
algal biofuels. To determine how far the concepts are from commercialability quantitative goals for
feasibility demonstration need to be defined. These should be based on preliminary techno-economic
modeling and should include parameters such as yields, payloads, cycle times, enzyme costs, feedstock
requirements.
Presenter Response
The rationale for the choice of strains for this work is based on 1) experience within the team, 2) overlap
with existing programs, and 3) the fact that these strains are comparable to the best biofuel production
strains in the literature (i.e. it is a combination of strain availability and experience with these strains in
our indoor and outdoor production environment, growing them under different conditions, and at a scale
that allows for high confidence in our ability to deliver the necessary biomass quality and quantity to the
team). The strains are all maintained as part of the strain collection within the Laboratory for Algae
Research and Biotechnology at Arizona State University and are all publically available. We will disclose
the specific strains (and source) to the DOE and upon publication of results which will include the growth
conditions utilized to achieve different biochemical compositions for a given strain. As discussed above
in section 2, we are confident in our ability to supply the necessary biomass to meet the needs of the
program as currently defined.
As to the question around detail plans for real-time/high-throughput compositional analysis, based on
encouraging preliminary results within the partner institutions, we will continue to develop, LC/MS
analysis, Infrared (IR)-based spectroscopy methods and chemometric models for rapid compositional
analysis with the goal to make these methods the default compositional analysis methods. Application of
these methods may reduce compositional analysis time from days to less than an hour (e.g., NIR based
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