A survey of the algae industry conducted by the Algae Biomass Organization (ABO) broadly shows high expectations for continued growth in the sector as well as increased production of a wide range of algae-derived products.

1. 2015 Algae Industry Survey
Conducted by the Algae Biomass Organization
February, 2015
www.algaebiomass.org | (877) 531-5512 | info@algaebiomass.org

2. Responses Across the Industry
230 respondents from across the industry
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
NumberofResponses
Organization Type
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
affiliation
A university or college
A company that is an end user of algae
products (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
(national or state)
A supplier of services to the algae industry
(legal services, accounting, other consultant,
etc.)

3. 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:

4. 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
likely
10.2%
Very likely
14.4%
Moderately likely
28.9%
Slightly likely
22.5%
Unlikely
23.5%
Already competitive
0.5%
How likely is it that algae-based fuels will be cost-
competitive with fossil fuels by 2020?

5. 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

6. Industry Pursuing Full Range of Algae
Products
Does your company or organization produce any of the following algal products? (select
all that apply)
Producers 2015
We 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%

7. Competitive Feeds from Algae
97% 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?

8. 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?

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

10. 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

11. 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%

12. Supportive Policy Accelerates Growth
89% of employers say better federal policy support would accelerate
hiring.
Extremely likely
25%
Very likely
19%
Moderately likely
26%
Slightly likely
19%
Not at all likely
11%
Employers, how likely is it that you would accelerate hiring
with better federal policy support of the algae industry?

13. Most Critical Technical Challenges
1. Cost-efficient production
systems
2. Harvesting and extraction
systems
3. Scale of production
facilities

14. 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

15. 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:

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