Regional partnership to develop algal biofuels gets backing of San Die...(aving a positive impact on the region's ...)

Date:4/28/2009

aving a positive impact on the region's economy. Research on algal biofuels now employs 272 scientists and other workers in San Diego and provides nearly $16.5 million in payroll and $33 million in economic activity for the region, according to an economic assessment completed last week by the San Diego Association of Governments, or SANDAG, Service Bureau.

Direct spending on algal biofuels, combined with the additional jobs and spending in related service industries this spending generates, is currently responsible for 513 jobs, $25.4 million in wages and $63.5 million in economic output in the San Diego region, according to the SANDAG study.

"We are already seeing the direct and indirect benefits of algae research on the San Diego regional economy," said Lisa Bicker, President and CEO of CleanTECH San Diego, a new non-profit corporation formed to accelerate San Diego's position as a world leader in the clean energy economy. "We see it in the form of new jobs and other support for the local economy. As research and other spending on algae grows, we expect to transform what is now over $30 million in economic activity into a several billion dollar economic machine."

"The algal biofuels industry is an important addition to the existing biofuels and overall biotechnology landscape in the San Diego life science cluster, one of the most vibrant in the world," said Joseph Panetta, President and CEO of BIOCOM, a San Diego-based association of more than 575 life science companies and institutions. "This critical new component to the high wage, environmentally friendly life science industry will help increase the stability and diversity of jobs and sectors within our regional economy."

Economists say that as this industry matures and more capital is invested in algal biofuels research, jobs and economic activity are expected to be produced in many sectors of the region's economy. According to the SANDAG analysis, every $100 million of
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Contact: Kim McDonald kmcdonald@ucsd.edu 858-534-7572 University of California - San Diego Source:Eurekalert

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