The EU Bioeconomy Strategy aims to support the sustainable growth and development of the EU bio-based sectors while creating jobs, innovation and services. Despite the recognised potential of the algae biomass value chain, significant knowledge gaps still exist regarding the dimension, capability, organization and structure of the algae production in Europe. This study presents and analyses the results of a comprehensive mapping and detailed characterisation of the algae production at the European scale, encompassing macroalgae, microalgae and the cyanobacteria Spirulina. This work mapped 447 algae and Spirulina production units spread between 23 countries, which represents an important addition to the reported number of algae producing countries. More than 50% of these companies produce microalgae and/or Spirulina. Macroalgae production is still depending on harvesting from wild stocks (68% of the macroalgae producing units) but macroalgae aquaculture (land-based and at sea) is developing in several countries in Europe currently representing 32% of the macroalgae production units. France, Ireland and Spain are the top 3 countries in number of macroalgae production units while Germany, Spain and Italy stand for the top 3 for microalgae. Spirulina producers are predominantly located in France, Italy, Germany and Spain. Algae and Spirulina biomass is directed primarily for food and food-related applications including the extraction of high-value products for food supplements and nutraceuticals. Algae production in Europe remains limited by a series of technological, regulatory and market-related barriers. Yet, the results of this study emphasise that the European algae sector has a considerable potential for sustainable development as long as the acknowledged economic, social and environmental challenges are addressed.

/pdf/current-status-of-the-algae-production-industry-in-europe-an-bb1019l3yp.pdf

Current status of the algae production industry in Europe: an emerging sector of the Blue Bioeconomy

The role of microalgae in the bioeconomy.

Microalgae biomass can offer several compounds beneficial to human nutrition, including lipids, proteins, minerals and pigments. In this sense, microalgae-based foods are already evident as opportunities for food research and development. Thus, the consumption of foods containing declared compounds from microalgae (e.g., omega 3/proteins) can be sold in the form of supplements and other innovative products, including chocolates and beverages. Furthermore, the production of microalgae brings advantages to global food security and reduces the impact considering environmental problems related to the expansion of food production in agricultural land. In this sense, the quality and safety of derivatives depend on good cultivation, harvesting and processing practices since unwanted organic and inorganic compounds may be present in microalgae biomass due to environmental contamination or processing steps. Moreover, this may pose a risk to human health, and it is essential for consumer protection that microalgae biomass be monitored for levels of residues and contaminants. The optimization of processes and knowledge of cultivation steps and their reagents are crucial for quality control. These aspects are discussed throughout this review, focusing on recent reports on potential microalgae-based food contaminants. 

Microalgae-based products: food and public health

Microalgae are sustainable feedstock for healthy food and feed, organic drugs, ecological polymers, green chemicals and dyes, biofuels, biofertilizers, and environmental bioremediation technologies. Despite its enormous promises, microalgae cultivation is expensive and thus large-scale production is centred on low volume/high value markets, such as the specialty food and feed, dietary supplements and pharmaceuticals. Large-scale microalgal cultivation is severely limited by the low biomass productivity achieved in current production systems, due to low photosynthetic efficiency. Furthermore, the management of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) for microalgal large-scale production is costly and faces technological constraints. The cultivation of microalgae in media supplemented with organic carbon substrates, with or without light, can significantly increase biomass productivities and overcome the technical constraints associated to CO 2 supply. This review collects quantitative data to compare microalgal autotrophic growth and metabolite accumulation with heterotrophic, mixotrophic and photoheterotrophic cultivation modes. Critique hypotheses are proposed to explain the increase in biomass productivity once microalgae are supplied with organic carbon molecules. The main cultivation parameters that could affect biomass accumulation are also analysed. Supplementation of microalgae with organic carbon substrates could be a suitable strategy towards a microalgal economy, despite the constraints and challenges that have to be overcome and that are also analysed. • Large-scale microalgal cultivation is constrained by low biomass productivities. • Photosynthetic efficiency is low in autotrophic production systems. • Large-scale management of carbon dioxide faces economic and technical constraints. • Microalgal biomass productivities can be increased with organic carbon substrates. • Selection of growth model is critical for successful microalgae production system. 

A comparison between microalgal autotrophic growth and metabolite accumulation with heterotrophic, mixotrophic and photoheterotrophic cultivation modes

Mass cultivation and harvesting of microalgal biomass: Current trends and future perspectives.

Industrial scale-up of microalgal cultures is often a protracted step prone to culture collapse and the occurrence of unwanted contaminants. To solve this problem, a two-stage scale-up process was developed – heterotrophically Chlorella vulgaris cells grown in fermenters (1st stage) were used to directly inoculate an outdoor industrial autotrophic microalgal production unit (2nd stage). A preliminary pilot-scale trial revealed that C. vulgaris cells grown heterotrophically adapted readily to outdoor autotrophic growth conditions (1-m3 photobioreactors) without any measurable difference as compared to conventional autotrophic inocula. Biomass concentration of 174.5 g L−1, the highest value ever reported for this microalga, was achieved in a 5-L fermenter during scale-up using the heterotrophic route. Inocula grown in 0.2- and 5-m3 industrial fermenters with mean productivity of 27.54 ± 5.07 and 31.86 ± 2.87 g L−1 d−1, respectively, were later used to seed several outdoor 100-m3 tubular photobioreactors. Overall, all photobioreactor cultures seeded from the heterotrophic route reached standard protein and chlorophyll contents of 52.18 ± 1.30% of DW and 23.98 ± 1.57 mg g−1 DW, respectively. In addition to providing reproducible, high-quality inocula, this two-stage approach led to a 5-fold and 12-fold decrease in scale-up time and occupancy area used for industrial scale-up, respectively.

/pdf/heterotrophy-as-a-tool-to-overcome-the-long-and-costly-47ccfj1vua.pdf

Heterotrophy as a tool to overcome the long and costly autotrophic scale-up process for large scale production of microalgae.

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Heterotrophy as a tool to overcome the long and costly autotrophic scale-up process for large scale production of microalgae.