Marine Science Workshop: Reading Materials

2nd UTEN Workshop 2010 - Marine and Bio-Sciences
Research Collaboration & Network Building for Commercialization
Universidade do Algarve-CCMAR - 27-28 September, 2010
Program | Speakers | Reading Materials | Photos

“Ocean science will have to become more holistic, more interdisciplinary and more international. If we are to adequately address ocean issues at the local, national, regional and global levels, science cannot operate in isolation but will need to integrate more fully a response from society at large. There must also be changes in the way we regulate marine activities, in our social goals and our attitudes to ocean governance. If we are to make the right decisions, however, we must understand how things ‘work’ in the oceans and how they interact; and we must recognise the role of the oceans in our life-support system and its value for humankind. This will require excellent science, together with the technology for pursuing it, as well as the support of individuals and governments. Ultimately, it calls for a vision of the planet that embraces land, sea, the atmosphere and human societies in all their interactions.”

The Ocean, Our Future

Report of the Independent World Commission of the Oceans (1998)

Hands-on training: case studies [PDF]

• UT Austin case studies
• Fraunhofer case studies 1: R&D Contracts - Introduction
• Fraunhofer case studies 2: NDA
• Fraunhofer case studies 3: R&D Contract
• Fraunhofer case studies 4: R&D Contract Annex
• Fraunhofer case studies 5: Collaborative Research Agreement

Optional readings:

• Marine Aquaculture in the US: Current and Future Policy and Management Changes
  Richard DeVoe, South Carolina Sea Grant Consortium, 1999
• Integrating Marine Science in Europe
  ESF Marine Board, 2002
• Marine Industries Global Market Analysis
  Marine Institute, 2005
• Potential of Sponges and Microalgae for Marine Biotechnology
  René H. Wijffels, 2008
• An Outlook on Microalgal Biofuels
  Wijffels and Barbosa, 2010
• Microalgae for the production of bulk chemicals and biofuels
  Wijffels, Barbosa and Eppink, 2010
• Panning for Chemical Gold: Marine Bacteria as a Source of New Therapeutics
  Philip G. Williams, 2009
• Web readings
  Commercialisation of Marine Sciences – Industry Trends
  The promise of algae as a source of transport fuel

Excerpt:

While Japan continues to focus use of its coastal and marine resources on food production, the United States continues to look to the coast and ocean for recreation, tourism, and other economic pursuits. The fact is that aquaculture in the United States has the potential to become a major growth industry in the 21st Century. Global seafood demand is projected to increase by 70 percent by the year 2025 (Joint Subcommittee on Aquaculture, JSA 1993). However, the future for marine aquaculture in the United States is much less certain than that of its freshwater counterpart. One serious problem is that most marine aquaculture is conducted in shallow coastal and estuarine waters, which are affected by increasing population pressures and industrial and residential development. In 1992, the National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences predicted that, due to increasing pressures along the coastal zone, the best opportunities for future commercial aquaculture development are in recirculating (closed) systems on land and in confinement systems in the open ocean. Research and development emphasis has been on closed system aquaculture rather than on offshore facilities. Yet, after more than 20 years of R&D activity, the economic viability of closed system aquaculture remains elusive. The United States is only now exploring the potential for establishing facilities in unprotected offshore areas.

Download “Marine Aquaculture in the US: Current and Future Policy and Management Changes” [53KB PDF]

Excerpts:

Main recommendations: The scientific, infrastructural and strategic recommendations that emerged from the IMS-Europe Position Paper are summarised below, according to the seven thematic categories by which the Position Paper is organised, namely:

1. European and societal dimensions
2. Natural marine resources
3. Europe’s coastal zones and shelf seas
4. Ocean climate interactions and feedback
5. New frontiers in marine science
6. Critical technologies
7. Research infrastructures

…

6. Critical technologies
6.1 Marine science and oceanography are critically dependent on advanced technologies to observe and understand ocean ecosystem dynamics and processes.
6.2 To understand and predict ocean-climate coupling and the sustainable use of marine resources, and to describe the European component of global systems, long-term baseline funding for the development and operation of ocean observatories is required
6.3 Development of effective industrial partnerships would accelerate development, sales and use of sensors by marine scientists. Particular priorities for sensor development include: (i) development of new sensors for biological and chemical parameters; (ii) development of new systems: multiparameter, networking architecture; (iii) ensuring cost effectiveness: long-term components and high spatial density deployments; and (iv) appropriate infrastructure: two-way data communication and control.
6.4 Collaboration with offshore oil and gas platforms, with their own network of telecommunication cables and infrastructure that could be efficiently adapted for shelf ecosystem and pollution observation, would clearly benefit European marine science, technology and industry.

Download Integrating Marine Science in Europe [2.2 MB PDF]

Excerpts:

This report is one of a series prepared at the request of the Marine Institute as a contribution to the development of a comprehensive National Marine Research and Innovative Strategy (2006-2012).

The Marine Institute is the national agency charged with co-ordinating, supporting and undertaking marine research and development in Ireland.The Institute aims to maximise the contribution of the marine resource to sustainable economic
development and employment growth.

This strategy being prepared through the course of 2005 will identify the key actions n eeded to provide sustainable growth and development opportunites that will contribute to socio-economic progress and the protection of the marine environment. This report is designed to identify climate-induced impacts, and necessary related actions, that Foresight/Stateholder groups will have to take into account in preparing future R&D plans and programmes.

…

In developing any strategy for the marine industries it is important to recognise the significance of commercial initiatives (as opposed to research initiatives), particularly within the “traditional sub-sectors”. Examples of countries which have developed positions of commercial leadership include Greece with the highest ownership of the world’s ship tonnage, Germany in regard to container vessels, Denmark which operates twice its owned tonnage and is a world leader in the manufacture of wind energy technology, the UK in marine commerce (Greek shipping is mainly Londonbased), and the Netherlands in ports and ocean survey (it claims some 11,800 companies active in marine sectors). In comparison it has been noted that “New York declined as a marine cluster due to tax changes”.

Major R&D challenges lie ahead, including:
Oil & Gas – Increasing exploitation of gas reserves in light of reducing oil supplies, increasing oil & gas recovery from brown fields and greater water depths, and economically developing small fields.
Renewable Energy – Reducing capital costs and improving reliability. Operating wind farms in deeper waters and at greater distances from the shore. Development of wave and tidal current power.
Methane Hydrates – We expect increasing efforts to commercially exploit this potentially large deepwater energy resource. (Significant projects are already underway in Japan.)
Shipbuilding – How to employ technology to counter high European labour costs and the threat of China’s penetration of the ‘special vessels’ sector that accounts for much of Europe’s business.
Marine Biotechnology – This is likely to receive increasing attention as its large potential is more widely recognised.

Perhaps one long-term concern should be the development of major R&D capabilities in Asia and the growing power of these countries to ‘undercut’ established Western centres in attracting commercial R&D funds.We expect countries such as China, India and Russia to become increasingly competitive due to low labour costs (a graduate with a master’s degree can be employed in India at 25% of the cost of an equivalent person in the US).
Offering to undertake R&D in a developing country is often seen as a way for an incoming company to deliver local content.
A challenge for Western governments will increasingly be how to anchor technology development in their own countries.

Download Marine Industries Global Market Analysis [4.0 MB PDF]

Excerpts:

Marine organisms can be used to produce several novel products that have applications in new medical technologies, in food and feed ingredients and as biofuels. In this paper two examples are described: the development of marine drugs from sponges and the use of microalgae to produce bulk chemicals and biofuels. Many sponges produce bioactive compounds with important potential applications as medical drugs. Recent developments in metagenomics, in the culturing of associated microorganisms from sponges and in the development of sponge cell-lines have the potential to solve the issue of supply, which is the main limitation for sponge exploitation. For the production of microalgal products at larger scales and the production of biofuels, major technological breakthroughs need to be realized to increase the product yield.

Read “Potential of Sponges and Microalgae for Marine Biotechnology” [Science Direct]

Excerpt:

Microalgae are considered one of the most promising feedstocks for biofuels. The productivity of these photosynthetic microorganisms in converting carbon dioxide into carbon-rich lipids, only a step or two away from biodiesel, greatly exceeds that of agricultural oleaginous crops, without competing for arable land. Worldwide, research and demonstration programs are being carried out to develop the technology needed to expand algal lipid production from a craft to a major industrial process. Although microalgae are not yet produced at large scale for bulk applications, recent advances—particularly in the methods of systems biology, genetic engineering, and biorefining—present opportunities to develop this process in a sustainable and economical way within the next 10 to 15 years.

Read “An Outlook on Microalgal Biofuels” [Science]

Excerpt:

The feasibility of microalgae production for biodiesel was discussed. Although algae are not yet produced at large scale for bulk applications, there are opportunities to develop this process in a sustainable way. It remains unlikely, however, that the process will be developed for biodiesel as the only end product from microalgae. In order to develop a more sustainable and economically feasible process, all biomass components (e.g. proteins, lipids, carbohydrates) should be used and therefore biorefining of microalgae is very important for the selective separation and use of the functional biomass components. If biorefining of microalgae is applied, lipids should be fractionated into lipids for biodiesel, lipids as a feedstock for the chemical industry and w-3 fatty acids, proteins and carbohydrates for food, feed and bulk chemicals, and the oxygen produced should be recovered also. If, in addition, production of algae is done on residual nutrient feedstocks and CO2, and production of microalgae is done on a large scale against low production costs, production of bulk chemicals and fuels from microalgae will become economically feasible. In order to obtain that, a number of bottlenecks need to be removed and a multidisciplinary approach in which systems biology, metabolic modeling, strain development, photobioreactor design and operation, scale-up, biorefining, integrated production chain, and the whole system design (including logistics) should be addressed.

Read “Microalgae for the production of bulk chemicals and biofuels” [Wiley]

Excerpt:

Marine bacteria are emerging as an exciting resource for the discovery of new classes of therapeutics. The promising anticancer clinical candidates salinosporamide A and bryostatin only hint at the incredible wealth of drug leads hidden just beneath the ocean surface. For example, if properly developed, marine bacteria could provide the drugs needed to sustain us for the next 100 years in our battle against drug-resistant infectious diseases. This review will focus on several recently discovered compounds, primarily from cyanobacteria and actinobacteria, that illustrate the tremendous potential of marine bacteria as a source of new therapeutics within the areas of oncology and infectious diseases.

Read “Panning for Chemical Gold: Marine Bacteria as a Source of New Therapeutics” [Science Direct]

• Commercialisation of Marine Sciences – Industry Trends
• The promise of algae as a source of transport fuel

Download readings from websites [PDF]