Microalgae

Microscopic factories for valuable substances.

Humanity faces enormous challenges related to ensuring energy supply and climate protection on the one hand and security of food and water supplies on the other. Along with this, the sustainable production of natural resources is a key challenge. One possible solution lies in the intelligent use of microalgae to re-use carbon dioxide and other wastes in a sustainable way to produce biomass as an energy source, as a diet supplement for aquaculture animals or humans, or as a high-value nutraceutical product. The researchers within the Aquaculture Research Group are focused on tapping the incredible potential of microalgae – inspired by the natural processes in the world’s oceans.

Through intelligent coupling of different scientific and economic areas, algae technology can be used to create a new path that combines active environmental protection with sustainable commodity production.

The staff of the aquaculture research department has the following tasks:

• the industrial implementation of the findings of fundamental research,
• the selection, production and optimized cultivation of microalgae which are particularly suitable for industrial utilization,
• the development and application of suitable cultivation methods for the targeted production of microalgae ingredients,
• the increase in growth rates and biomass yield,
• the development of procedures to reduce production costs,

For this, we combine sustainability with environmental awareness and technology transfer. Cooperations with small and medium-sized industrial companies are emerging in the research areas of high-quality ingredients, the production of feed algae for aquaculture as well as the development and process optimization of production systems.

Projects related to this topic:

• CAMAFAN
  Characterization and industrial Application of Marennine as Aquaculture Feed Additive and Nutraceutical
  Contacts: Joachim Henjes | Isabel Reis Batista
  Funding: EuroTransBio funding initiative (ETB)