Seville, 29 April 2011. The presidents of AENA (Spanish Airports and Air Navigation), AlgaEnergy and Iberia Líneas Aéreas de España presented today, at the cicCartuja facilities, the Technological Platform for Microalgae Experimentation (PTEM), whose construction is being completed at Madrid-Barajas Airport. At the PTEM Platform, processes and cultivation systems with various strains of photosynthetic microorganisms will be tested outdoors and on a suitable scale, one of its main aims being the generation of a microalgae biomass suitable for the generation of automotive and aviation biofuels.

The celebration of this event should be interpreted as recognition of the role played by scientists from the Institute of Plant Biochemistry and Photosynthesis (IBVF), part of cicCartuja, in the research advances in microalgae biotechnology that scientifically underpin the implementation of the PTEM. These include the implementation of two patents owned by the University of Seville and the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas licensed by AlgaEnergy, S.A., a company that also has important research contracts with IBVF groups.

The event, which was chaired by Isaías Táboas, Secretary of State for Transport (Ministry of Public Works), was also attended by Juan Ignacio Lema, president of AENA, Antonio Vázquez, president of Iberia, and Augusto Rodríguez-Villa, president of AlgaEnergy.
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