EERA Bioenergy – New Algae Sub Programme Leader

Maria Barbosa to lead the Sub Programme on Biofuels from Algae for the next two years

image004Dr Maria Barbosa has been elected as the new leader of the European Energy Research Alliance (EERA) Bioenergy Sub Programme focusing on algae based biofuels.

The EERA Joint Programme for Bioenergy consists of five Sub Programmes focusing on biomass thermochemical processing, sugar platform, biofuels from algae, sustainable biomass and stationary bioenergy.

From March 2014 onwards, Dr Barbosa who is based at Wageningen University and Research Centre (WUR) in the Netherlands takes over from Kim Pilegaard of Risø, Denmark who has successfully led this Sub Programme since 2010.

Maria brings with her a wealth of experience in micro-algae and her current responsibilities include:

  • Director of the AlgaePARC project, partially funded by the Dutch Ministry of Economics, Agriculture and Innovation, which focuses on the comparison and development of pilot algae production systems and process strategies involving 19 industrial partners.
  • Scientific Coordinator of European projects SPLASH and FUEL4ME, as well as AlgaePARC Biorefinery.
  • Research manager of micro-algae at WUR Food and Biobased Research leading a team of twelve researchers and research assistants.

She has authored over 16 leading journal papers and 6 books on micro-algae and is regularly invited to speak at algal and biofuel events around the world.

Maria will be leading the EERA Bioenergy Sub Programme on Biofuels from Algae for the next two years.

“My main objective is to help establish micro-algae as a commercial sustainable feedstock for commodities, including biofuels,” commented Maria on the announcement of her new role within the EERA Bioenergy programme.

She continued “I believe industrialisation of this field is necessary and that it should take place in parallel and be linked to knowledge generation. Bridging the gap between industry and knowledge institutions is therefore very important in the establishment of a new process in our society.”

Source

European Energy Research Alliance (EERA), press release, 2014-03-25.

Supplier

European Energy Research Alliance (EERA)
Wageningen University

Share

Renewable Carbon News – Daily Newsletter

Subscribe to our daily email newsletter – the world's leading newsletter on renewable materials and chemicals

Subscribe