Algae Biotechnology Division

The topic of "algae" is currently receiving a lot of attention. Algae are the focus of interest for several reasons:

1. they use CO2 as a carbon source and could sequester it at the site of its formation (for example, at power plants) so that this greenhouse gas is not released into the atmosphere.

2. they are promoted as potential producers of energy carriers, e.g. biodiesel, which should enable an energetic recycling of CO2.

3. they serve as producers of valuable and active substances as well as biopolymers.

From this, the extremely attractive vision of a closed economic carbon cycle can be derived.

Among the advantages cited for algae are:

- the supposedly higher growth rate and area-related productivity compared to land plants

- production with algae does not conflict with food production, as algae cultivation is not tied to the use of arable land.

The greatest challenge is to realise a cultivation concept that makes it possible to implement the high productivity of algae described on a laboratory scale on a large scale under economic conditions.

The Algae Biotechnology Division has prepared a position paper based on the current state of scientific and technical knowledge with an assessment of the possibilities and limits of algae biotechnology. Its main statement is that, according to the current state of the art, only the production of higher value-added products is economically viable. A roadmap for the further technological development of algae biotechnology is now to be drawn up, which includes molecular biological as well as bioprocess engineering aspects.

(DECHEMA, Fachgruppe Algenbiotechnologie, 2016)