GENIALG project – Seaweed biorefineries to manufacture everyday products

Type of post: Project profile.

Asia has a commanding position in supply of seaweed biomass from aquaculture. In 2015, more than 99% of the production came from this continent, with China contributing 13,9 Mtons over the total amount of 29,4 Mtons (FAO, 2007).  Seaweed (also known as macroalgae) has long been recognised as a valuable source of diverse bioactive compounds which has great potential to be used in pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals and functional foods. However, until now, seaweed has been underexploited in Europe due to the challenges of expanding seaweed biomass production.

Last week, the Biorenewables Development Centre (BDC) issued a Case Study about an initiative to boost the European Blue Economy by designing high-yielding seaweed cultivation systems: GENIALG. Funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Framework Programme, it is the first industry-driven project bringing together pioneering companies in large-scale integrated European biorefineries and experts in seaweed cultivation, genetics and metabolomics to boost the seaweed industry.

Figure 1. Seaweed (taken from the Case Study issued by BDC)

Key data

Title	GENetic diversity exploitation for Innovative macro-ALGal biorefinery
Programme / Instrument	H2020-BG-2016-1 / Innovation Action
Total Budget / EC contribution	12,224,237.50 € / €10,885,817.25 €
Duration	January 2017 – December 2020 (48 months)
Coordinator	Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
Partners	- ALGAIA - ALGAplus Produção e Comercialização de Algas e Seus Derivados Lda - Amadéite SAS - AquaTT UETP CLG - Biome Technologies plc - Biorenewables Development Centre Ltd - Centro Interdisciplinar de Investigação Marinha e Ambiental (CIIMAR) - C-Weed Aquaculture SARL - Instituto de Ciência e Inovação em Engenharia Mecânica e Engenharia Industrial (INEGI) - IOTA Pharmaceuticals Ltd - Lessonia - National University of Ireland, Galway - Seaweed Energy Solutions AS - SINTEF Ocean - Stichting Wageningen Research - The Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS) - University of York - Universidade de Aveiro

Project objectives and methodology

GENIALG aims to increase the production and sustainable exploitation of two high biomass yielding species of European seaweed:

- The brown alga Saccharina latissima (also known as sugar kelp).

- The green alga Ulva rigida (often called sea lettuce).

GENIALG will cover both upstream production and downstream processing of seaweed for manufacturing new algae-based products for the market and will increase the social acceptance of this novel seaweed sector:

- Cultivation

Upstream seaweed production where development of new technologies for germplasm preservation and breeding, cultivation, harvesting and storage will be demonstrated.

- Biorefinery

Development of new methods for downstream processing of seaweeds, including pre-treatment, fractionation, extraction, purification and detailed characterisation of defined chemical compounds and polymers, as well as fermentation of left-over sugars to added-value products in a step-by-step manner.

- Social acceptance

Promotion of socio-environmental benefits of seaweed farming and activities to support/encourage dissemination, stakeholder engagement, knowledge transfer, outreach and capacity building.

Two pilot pre-industrial seaweed biorefineries will provide compounds for a wide range of products such as cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, food and feed ingredients, fine and specialty chemicals, additives and precursors for biodegradable plastics.

By scaling up the processes, the partnership will analyse different integrated biomass fractionation process scenarios for both seaweed species. Product extracts from these processes will then be sent to industrial partners for application tests.

Figure 2. The general concept and methodology of GENIALG (taken from the website of the project)

Expected results and impact

- By enhancing the supply of high-quality seaweed biomass, it will be possible to deliver a range of diverse seaweed-derived chemical compounds for existing and new applications to meet rising market demand.

- GENIALG will help lead the way in the blue biotechnology sector in Europe as well as it addresses social acceptability and competition for maritime space.

- The economic competitiveness of multiple European industries will be strengthened by supporting new jobs, upskilling, growth and investment in the blue economy, while ensuring environmental sustainability.