BETO Announces the Inaugural DOE AlgaePrize Competition Grand Champion
2022-2023 AlgaePrize Grand Champion Team Kelp! I Need Some Algae, University of Alaska, Fairbanks. Photo Courtesy of NREL
The U.S Department of Energy (DOE) Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO), in partnership with the Algae Foundation and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), announced the grand champion and top four winning teams of the 2022 - 2023 U.S. Department of Energy AlgaePrize Competition!
Launched in January 2022, the student competition challenged 64 student teams with 307 individual competitors from high schools, colleges, and universities across the United States. The teams developed innovative solutions for algae production, processing, and new product development to lower the costs of producing algal biofuels and bioproducts.
During the AlgaePrize Competition weekend of April 14-16, 14 finalist teams from 11 states and Puerto Rico showcased their projects to a panel of judges at NREL in Golden, Colorado.
Team Kelp! I Need Some Algae from the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, won this year’s competition and received a total of $15,000 in prize money. The team’s goal was to determine cost-effective ways to reduce hatchery expenses by testing novel natural seed twine options and fertilizers to expand diversity in Alaskan mariculture.
Four other teams were named top finalists and received $10,000 in prize money:
“AlgaePrize is the nation’s premiere bioenergy student research competition and we’re excited to celebrate the innovation, creativity, and talent of these bright young minds,” said BETO Director Dr. Valerie Sarisky-Reed. “The real-world science and engineering experience this contest provides has set these students on the path to becoming America’s next generation of bioenergy professionals.”
BETO supports research and development to lower the costs of producing algal biofuels and bioproducts. The AlgaePrize Competition supports DOE’s Sustainable Aviation Fuel Grand Challenge goal of scaling up new technologies to produce SAF on a commercial scale and lower greenhouse gas emissions from flight. The competition also supports the Biden-Harris administration’s goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
The grand champion team and the top four finalist teams will be invited to participate in the Algae Biomass Summit this fall to present their research and engage with summit participants from the national and international algae communities. Learn more about the winning teams and their innovation technology.
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The 2022 - 2023 AlgaePrize competition was sponsored by BETO, in partnership with the Algae Foundation and National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Through the AlgaePrize, BETO is committed to fostering a competitive environment that values and celebrates the diversity of student’s ideas, cultures, and educational backgrounds. The AlgaePrize recognizes that a diversity of thought fosters a diversity of scientific ideas, which brings new and innovative solutions to address the nation’s bioenergy needs. Through this challenge, students will gain real-world science, technology, engineering, and mathematics experience, helping to develop the next generation of bioenergy professionals. BETO is part of DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.
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