Month: February 2018

Like Ardnamurchan and the West Coast of Scotland, Iceland’s pristine environment, pure water and abundance of renewable energy provides an ideal location for cultivation of algae.

A brand new, state-of-the-art facility for the production of the health supplement Astaxanthin has been established at Reykjanesbaer by Norwegian company Algalif.

Astaxanthin is a reddish pigment that belongs to a group of chemicals called carotenoids, which are reported to have multiple health benefits including antioxidant properties. The compound  occurs naturally in certain algae and creates the pink or red colour in salmon, trout, lobster, shrimp, and other seafood.

Algalif extract the powerful antioxidant from the algal species Haematococcus pluvialis, which is grown using 100%, locally available geothermal energy. 

Watch the company video for full details of their Astaxanthin  production.

Preparation for the installation of the Pandora PBR™ algal photobioreactor (PBR) array at Ardnamurchan is almost complete. The combined heat and power system (CHP), which will supply the electricity for the array, is installed and running. This uses woodchip produced on site from local, sustainable timber to fuel its three 75kW turbines. The installation has also created two new employment positions to run the CHP, evaporator, pelleting and woodchip plant.

The newly constructed “shed” for algal PBR array is also ready, with utilities including lighting and power in place. Once the PBRs are installed, day to day running of the bioproduction facility will be used for a time and motion study and to enable development of business models and application tools for the project.

The work at Ardnamurchan represents more than £1 million of investment into the circular bioeconomy in the local area. The estate management, local resources and new CHP system make Ardnamurchan an ideal test ground for the pilot scale deployment of the ENBIO project. Installation of the photobioreactors is estimated to begin in July and everyone is very excited to see the array up and running.
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ALIenergy is delighted to announce their success as winner of the Bioenergy category in the Rushlight Awards 2017-18 on behalf of the ASLEE project partnership (Algal Solutions for Local Energy Economy). 

The Rushlight Awards are a well-established event recognizing the cleantech stars and sustainability champions of today. They are an independent set of awards designed specifically to support and promote all the latest clean technologies, innovations, programmes, installations and initiatives for businesses and other organisations throughout UK, Ireland and internationally. The awards include various categories which are focused on reducing the environmental footprint of energy, transport, industry and everyday life.

The Awards party (presented by Eventure Media), which took place immediately after the Rushlight Show, at the Royal Geographical Society, London, on 25th January, was attended by organizations that are leading the way in clean technology innovation and sustainable solution deployment, investors, advisers, specialist and general media, trade associations and government departments. Mark Taylor, Deputy Director at BEIS and Head of Programme Delivery, Science and Innovation for Climate and Energy, and the guest of honour at the Awards Party, set out his past and the current activities of the department in the cleantech arena, before presenting the awards.

The Rushlight Show included key announcements by Claire Perry, Minister of State for Energy and Clean Growth, as well as major contributions from John Loughhead, Chief Scientific Adviser at BEIS; Rob Saunders, Head of Energy at Innovate UK; Julie Hill, Chair at WRAP and senior representatives from the Committee on Climate Change, Energy Systems Catapult, CBI, National Grid, Ellen MacArthur Foundation and the NHS. Now in its 9th year, the Show (sponsored by Innovate UK, BEIS, Flanders Investment & Trade, Carbon Limiting Technologies, Sage, Granted Consultancy, Venner Shipley and Smith & Williamson), attracted over 600 cleantech CEOs and entrepreneurs, investors and financiers, advisers, corporate customers and others involved in the sector.

For further information and a list of Rushlight Awards winners visit: www.rushlightevents.com/rushlight-awards