2015 Algae Industry Survey

2015 Algae Industry Survey

Conducted by the Algae Biomass OrganizationFebruary, 2015

www.algaebiomass.org | (877) 531-5512 | info@algaebiomass.org

Responses Across the Industry230 respondents from across the industry

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80 I work for an organization that is: A company that produces or researches algae-

derived products (fuel, feed, nutraqceuticals, bioplastics, chemicals, etc.)

A research laboratory with government affilia-tion

A university or college

A company that is an end user of algae prod-ucts (a buyer of fuel, feed, chemicals, plastics, nutritional products, fertilizers, etc.)

A company that supports the use of algae in industry (transportation, consumer products, chemicals, etc.)

An equipment or materials provider for the algae industry

A government agency or department (na-tional or state)

A supplier of services to the algae industry (legal services, accounting, other consultant, etc.)

OtherOrganization Type

Num

ber o

f Res

pons

es

Survey Highlights: Significant Optimism

• Algae fuels, feeds, plastics and other products will be price competitive within the decade.

• Production and hiring will increase in both the short and long term.

• Supportive federal policy would accelerate hiring and production.

Industry insiders broadly believe that:

On Track to Price Competitiveness• More than 75% say that algae based fuels can be cost competitive by

2020.• More than 91% of producers say the price will be below $5.00 per gallon

by 2020.

Extremely likely10.2%

Very likely14.4%

Moderately likely28.9%

Slightly likely22.5%

Unlikely23.5%

Already competitive 0.5%

How likely is it that algae-based fuels will be cost-competitive with fossil fuels by 2020?

On Track to Price Competitiveness

Less than $1.50/gallon; 16%

$1.50-$3.00/gallon; 30%$3.00-$5.00/gallon; 45%

$5.00-$10.00/gallon; 9%

To the best of your knowledge, can you project what your cost/gallon of algae-based fuel will be

in 2020?

91% say algae fuel will be less than $5.00/gal; 46% say less than $3.00/gal in 2020

Industry Pursuing Full Range of Algae Products

Does your company or organization produce any of the following algal products? (select all that apply)

    Producers 2015We do not directly produce algal products 26.5%Energy and/or Fuel products 31.6%Food and/or Agricultural products 46.8%Health and/or Nutrition products 39.2%

Materials & Services (includes manufactured goods, plastics, chemicals, wastewater treatment, etc.) 11.3%Other 13.9%Total 100%

Competitive Feeds from Algae97% say that algae based feeds will be commercially available in 2020.

Extremely likely; 22.2%

Very likely; 35.2%Moderately likely; 27.3%

Slightly likely; 11.9%

Unlikely; 3.4%Already competitive ; 2.8%

How likely is it that cost-competitive algae-based feeds in agriculture or aquaculture will be commercially available by 2020?

More than 93% say that algae derived plastics or chemicals will be commercially available.

Competitive Plastics and Chemicals

Extremely likely; 14.4%

Very likely; 28.7%

Moderately likely; 33.1%

Slightly likely; 16.0%

Unlikely; 7.7% Already competitive; 0.6%

How likely is it that cost-competitive bioplastics or biochemicals derived from algae will be commercially available by 2020?

Capacity Continues to Expand

• Production expansion is predicted; More than 70% of producers expect to expand production this year.

Types of Jobs in Algae Industry

• Executives• Scientists and researchers• Marketers and salespeople• Administrative, legal, human

resources• Operations and production• Financing• Customer support• Student• Professor

Continued Job Growth Ahead

To the best of your knowledge, approximately how many people in your organization or company (or division) are directly working (or will be working) on algae-related

business at the following times?

    Start of 2015 End of 2015 End of 2020

1-10 63.5% 56.1% 23.9%

11-50 20.9% 21.1% 27.4%

51-100 5.2% 7.9% 10.6%

101-500 2.6% 1.8% 8.8%

500+ 0% 0% 3.5%

Not sure 7.8% 13.2% 25.7%

Supportive Policy Accelerates Growth

89% of employers say better federal policy support would accelerate hiring.

Extremely likely25%

Very likely18%

Moderately likely26%

Slightly likely19%

Not at all likely11%

Employers, how likely is it that you would accelerate hiring with better federal policy support of the algae industry?

Most Critical Technical Challenges

1. Cost-efficient production systems

2. Harvesting and extraction systems

3. Scale of production facilities

Top Policy Today

The most important federal policies in building a robust algae industry in effect today:

#1 Research and development support

#2 Commercialization support

#3 Tax incentives and credits

#4 Renewable Fuel Standard

Top Policy Tomorrow

#1 Increased algae & carbon utilization research and deployment support by federal agencies

#2 Regulatory approvals for algae-derived products

#3 Stable, predictable support in tax policy

#4 Including carbon utilization in climate regulations

The most important federal policies in building a robust algae industry not in effect today:

www.algaebiomass.org | (877) 531-5512 | info@algaebiomass.org