SuriaLink Bulletin No. 1-0304 From the sun… through seaplants… to you

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Slide 1

Opportunities for Asia

Iain C. Neish

SuriaLink.comA project of Marine Botanicals Sdn. Bhd.

Tropical Algatech

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Slide 2

10o N

10o S

20o N

20o S

About 80% of tropical coast is in East Asia“Nusantara*” has ~ 60%

World total ~ 200 K KM of tropical seacoast

Nusantara @ “The Malay Archipelago”Includes Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Is.but the Philippines (37 K km) & Indonesia (55 K km) have most of the coast

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Slide 3

“Algatech” is short for“Algal photo-biotechnology”

Major O2 producersBasis of aquatic and marine food chains & habitatsProducts useful to mankindPotential just beginning to be appreciated!

Production & utilisation of aquatic & marine non-vascular plants

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Slide 4

Macroalgae

Commonly called “seaweeds”Properly called “seaplantsBig enough to tie on ropesMany can be chopped down to “mini” size

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Slide 5

MinialgaeSmall seaplantsTedious to tie on ropesGrown in slurry systems or

seeded on substrateCan grow in open pondsEnclosed for pure cultures

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Slide 6

Microalgae

Too small to see with naked eyeBest grown in slurry systemsSome grown in open systemsMust be enclosed for pure cultures

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Slide 7

Global seaplant market(estimated annual)

Over 2 M dry tons or 7.5 M+ wet tonsValue 8 B+ USD/annum

Many seaplant products exchanged in local markets Official statistics scarce

Actual volumes may be many times reported figures

SuriaLink Bulletin No. 1-0304 From the sun… through seaplants… to you

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Slide 8

240,632Norway10

246,894Indonesia9

367,050Korea, S8

371,435Korea, N7

495,912Philippines6

5109,308Chile5

6123,074Japan4

9205,500U K3

28616,762France2

32698,529China1

%Dry MT Country#

Production by countryAll tropicalSome tropical

+496Kiribati

+4,000Malaysia

+5,000Tanzania

334,218Chile

446,894Indonesia

665,740Korea, S

670,045Korea, N

890,912Philippines

10107,360Japan

61675,229China

%Dry MT Country

Farmed10 countries = 99+% of production

96% in Asia12+% in tropical E. Asia

Total harvest10 countries = 96% of production

50% in Asia6% in tropical E. Asia

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Slide 9

Macro/minialgae value

8.01 TOTAL ~0.1 Maerl0.86Kelp meal 0.86Food gums 0.20Others 1.14Undaria 2.00Laminaria 2.85Porphyra

Value B USD/yr

Product

SuriaLink data after Perez et al. 1996

nori

kombu

wakame

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Slide 10

Tropical macro/minialgae production…

Dominated by cultured red algal galactan seaplants (RAGS)Mainly Kappaphycus &EucheumaSignificant GracilariaSources of the biopolymers carrageenan and agar

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Slide 11

Microalga production is happening…

DunaliellaSpirulina*

*Photos from spirulinasource.com

Chlorella* Spirulina*

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Slide 12

“We estimate that demand for manufacturing capacity will exceed current supply by a factor of four by 2005.” – JP Morgan 3/01

“The biotechnology industry is at risk of losing $9b in market cap due to delayed products in the next few years.” – Contract Pharma 11/00

Production numbers hard to find & there is a large, growing manufacturing shortfall

More production capacity required

Potential market - tens of billions of USD/yr

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Slide 13

cold water production

falling…

warm water production

rising…

The carrageenan business…tropical crops replacing coldwater harvests

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Slide 14

…and cultivation is the key!Commercially utilised coldwater seaplants tend to grow in "beds“.High population density - Amenable to mechanical harvesting

Most tropical macroalgae & minialgae grow individually……or in small clumps with corals and other seaplants.

Cultivation is essential before most tropical seaplants can enter commerce

Wild Kappaphycus striatum

in Sabah, Malaysia

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Slide 15

Cultivation technologiesrange from

low-tech high-techseaweed farming cell culture

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Slide 16

Low + high tech can be blended…to give optimal results !

Low-tech High-tech

Small-medium enterprise (SME) dominate current value chainsMost farms are family farmsSME also have a major role in “high-tech”

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Slide 17

Ocean, pond & raceway technologies

can combine low-tech + high-tech

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Slide 18

Cross section of free-floating plastic-tube photo-bioreactor

Materials & tools developed for intensive agriculture

Appropriate technologies are being adopted from intensive agriculture

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Slide 19

Cross section of microalgae photo-bioreactor

Novel technologies…being developed for emerging

biotech needs

Flexible Bioreactor produced by Cellpharm Ltd, UK, for growing algae used as aquaculture feed

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Slide 20

Sea vegetables, food ingredients & nutraceuticals

Worth at least 5 B USD/annumUse spreading from traditional markets to global marketsMassive potential for expansionShift toward “natural”nutraceuticals is one market driver

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Slide 21

Bioactive compounds from algae

Algae naturally synthesize anti-viral, anti-thrombic and other compoundsAlgal “drugs from the sea” programs still in their infancySome products coming to market already

Monostoma –a rhamnan sulfate source –anti thrombic

Cladosiphon(mozuku) –

a myostatin source – muscle building

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Slide 22

Algae as hosts to genetic materialExciting new technologies on the way…

Energy & antibodies from Chlamydomonas (Scripps patents) Antibodies, vaccines, antioxidants, omega-3 fatty acids from genetic transformation of macroalgae (e.g. Porphyrain Cheney + Bradley-Metz patent)Many in development

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Slide 23

BiopolymersBillion USD/yr marketIncludes red algal galactans (RAG) such as carrageenan and agar & alginates from brown macroalgae

Mainly used as food ingredientsSome industrial applicationsImportant biomedical applicationsUseful components of culture media

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Slide 24

Well-being with algae

Nutritional benefitsThalassotherapyAroma therapyLotions and potions for spa treatment“Cosmeceuticals”Personal care products

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Slide 25

Animal nutritionAlgal meals, powders and extracts used as nutraceutical feed componentsMicroalgae are important aquaculture hatchery feedsMacroalgae are feed for herbivorous fishAlgal biopolymers used as pet food and farm feed stabilizers

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Slide 26

Plant nutritionSource of plant biostimulantsSource of trace elements and other nutrientsUsed as mulch or spray for soil conditioningBiopolymers used as stabilizer for seed emulsionsBiopolymers used as culture media for specialty crops (e.g. orchids)

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Slide 27

Industrial process aids

Biopolymers & seaplant flour used in brewery finingBiopolymers used in oil field completion fluids Biopolymers used as slurry stabilizer for pigments in ceramics & textile applicationsBiopolymers used in textile sizing & dyestuffsMany other possible applications

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Slide 28

Biosorption & Waste treatment

Heavy metals are removed from water through biosorption by algaeAlgae can be used to remove nitrogen and other nutrients from waterIn polyculture systems algae can convert sea animal wastes to useful biomass

Gracilaria is produced in polyculture systems

Chlamydomonas in heavy-metal biosorption systems

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Slide 29

Energy

Algae can be used as feedstock for energy producing bioreactorsGreen algae such as Chlamydomonas can be stimulated to produce significant amounts of hydrogen instead of oxygen during photosynthesis

Melis Energy Inc. - concept drawing for hydrogen photo-bioreactor

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Slide 30

Tropical East Asia…comparative advantages

Most tropical seacoastGreat human resources –half of humanity lives hereCultures that value botanical productsStrongly developing regional markets

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Slide 31

Some urgent needsProper protection of patents & other IPBalance between economic needs of coastal people and essential aspects of environmental protectionPlanning and formulation of proprietary privileges in coastal zonesFurther development of enabling solutions for disabling value chain problemsFurther empowerment of entrepreneurial, innovative individuals and firms –especially SME

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Slide 32

Tropical algatech near-term focus…

Focus on the farmingWhen you have the material, value-adding steps will followEnable value chains with modern IT (e.g. “e-choupal” system in India)Empower efficient, trustworthy individuals and firms of all sizesBuild strategic business alliances

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Slide 33

Conclusions…East Asia is becoming a driving force and a major market for algatech value chainsTropical algatech is still young – mostly less than 30 years oldAlgatech potentials are just beginning to be realizedThey promise to be of great value to humanity and to our environmentThe mission of SuriaLink is to catalyze and drive this development