Severe CO2 emission is a worldwide problem. China has announced its plans to achieve “carbon neutral” by around 2060. Therefore, researchers globally are looking for effective, carbon negative methods to neutralize huge amounts of CO2 emissions. Flue gas CO2 fixation by microalgae is one of the most promising methods because of their high growth rate. However, CO2 conversion efficiency by microalgae so far is still too low to satisfy the enormous CO2 emission amount. We are looking for a more comprehensive and efficient way to develop this technology.
Microalgae have been posited several times as a prime candidate for the development of sustainable energy platforms, making the understanding of their biological properties an important objective. Thus, knowledge related to the basics of microalgae CO2 fixation and biology must be acquired and shared rapidly, fostering the development of potential applications.
Although advancements have been made over recent decades, commercialization and large-scale application of flue gas CO2 fixation by microalgae remains a formidable challenge primarily due to techno-economic constraints including the cost of photo-bioreactors, the huge energy expenditure for mixing culture media and harvesting, the contamination risks and the supply of nutrient sources. Although microalgae markets of high value-added products for nutraceutical and cosmetic industries are steadily growing, with the global market expected to reach 3,790 million USD by 2024, biomass and pigment production cannot meet this demand. If flue gas CO2 can efficiently and low-costly converted into microalgal powder, microalgae biomass can be utilized as an exclusive bioresource for nutraceutical, pharmaceutical and cosmeceutical industries. By advancing and expanding technological advancements towards low cost and energy efficient production of microalgae as well as CO2 utilization, it is hoped that this will have positive implications, not only for human health, but also for food security, water pollution, energy issue and other environmental issues.
In order to expand the utilization of flue gas CO2 fixation by microalgae, it is necessary to propagate research efforts in two directions: (1) from the engineering perspective for energy and cost saving of production process, and (2) from the biotechnological perspective for finding new functional properties of microalgae.
In this Research Topic, we welcome the submission of all article types related to microalgae production, with a preference for Original Research, Reviews, and Opinions, focusing on the following:
- Studies on new processes for flue gas CO2 fixation by microalgae with low-cost and high-efficiency.
- High cell density culture and continuous culture for effective production of microalgae.
- EPA, DHA, and other high value-added lipid production.
- ß-carotene, astaxanthin, fucoxanthin, and other carotenoids pigments production.
- Novel harvesting technologies, including sedimentation, concentration, and drying methods.
- Microalgae utilization for aquaculture and livestock industries.
- Microalgae utilization includes low-cost culture methods, food security, and pollution control.
- Adaptive (laboratory) evolution
- Photosynthesis
- Bioprospecting
- Marine carbon cycle
Severe CO2 emission is a worldwide problem. China has announced its plans to achieve “carbon neutral” by around 2060. Therefore, researchers globally are looking for effective, carbon negative methods to neutralize huge amounts of CO2 emissions. Flue gas CO2 fixation by microalgae is one of the most promising methods because of their high growth rate. However, CO2 conversion efficiency by microalgae so far is still too low to satisfy the enormous CO2 emission amount. We are looking for a more comprehensive and efficient way to develop this technology.
Microalgae have been posited several times as a prime candidate for the development of sustainable energy platforms, making the understanding of their biological properties an important objective. Thus, knowledge related to the basics of microalgae CO2 fixation and biology must be acquired and shared rapidly, fostering the development of potential applications.
Although advancements have been made over recent decades, commercialization and large-scale application of flue gas CO2 fixation by microalgae remains a formidable challenge primarily due to techno-economic constraints including the cost of photo-bioreactors, the huge energy expenditure for mixing culture media and harvesting, the contamination risks and the supply of nutrient sources. Although microalgae markets of high value-added products for nutraceutical and cosmetic industries are steadily growing, with the global market expected to reach 3,790 million USD by 2024, biomass and pigment production cannot meet this demand. If flue gas CO2 can efficiently and low-costly converted into microalgal powder, microalgae biomass can be utilized as an exclusive bioresource for nutraceutical, pharmaceutical and cosmeceutical industries. By advancing and expanding technological advancements towards low cost and energy efficient production of microalgae as well as CO2 utilization, it is hoped that this will have positive implications, not only for human health, but also for food security, water pollution, energy issue and other environmental issues.
In order to expand the utilization of flue gas CO2 fixation by microalgae, it is necessary to propagate research efforts in two directions: (1) from the engineering perspective for energy and cost saving of production process, and (2) from the biotechnological perspective for finding new functional properties of microalgae.
In this Research Topic, we welcome the submission of all article types related to microalgae production, with a preference for Original Research, Reviews, and Opinions, focusing on the following:
- Studies on new processes for flue gas CO2 fixation by microalgae with low-cost and high-efficiency.
- High cell density culture and continuous culture for effective production of microalgae.
- EPA, DHA, and other high value-added lipid production.
- ß-carotene, astaxanthin, fucoxanthin, and other carotenoids pigments production.
- Novel harvesting technologies, including sedimentation, concentration, and drying methods.
- Microalgae utilization for aquaculture and livestock industries.
- Microalgae utilization includes low-cost culture methods, food security, and pollution control.
- Adaptive (laboratory) evolution
- Photosynthesis
- Bioprospecting
- Marine carbon cycle
