A new AlgaePrize competition for high school through graduate students studying at a U.S.-based high school, college, community college, university or graduate school has been initiated by the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Bioenergy Technologies Office. Student teams will compete for a total of $130,000 in prize awards.

Algae are of value as fast-growing organisms able to store energy from sunlight that can be transformed into fuel, food, fertilizer and industrial compounds. During the competition, launched in collaboration with the Algae Foundation and the U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory, teams will participate in a nearly 18-month process of pursuing innovative ideas for the development, design and invention of technologies within the commercial algae value chain, exploring solutions to algae production, processing and new product development.

Source: DOE

Student teams are advised to focus their project on one of the following areas of interest:

• Production: Cultivar enhancement; aquaculture engineering; husbandry and productivity
• Downstream processing: Harvesting, dewatering and processing; development of biorefinery applications
• Identification of novel products or tools: New product development; remote sensing and modeling; ecological/environmental services

Teams of two or more students currently enrolled in a U.S.-based education program must register by March 2, 2022. The grand champion competition winner will receive a $20,000 cash prize.