…for a future bio-economy, landless food production, and the socio-economic impact of an algae industry.
Despite being a comparatively new branch of agriculture, algae production is often considered a solution to many food security-related problems, such as land scarcity, climate change, inefficient and unsustainable fertiliser usage, associated nutrient leakage, and water pollution. Algae can be cultivated independent of arable land and, especially in the case of many microalgae, produce oil- and/or protein-rich biomass with spatial efficiency far exceeding that of terrestrial plants.
Nevertheless, most algae and algae-derived products are exclusively produced for high-value, low-volume markets. They are far from being able to compete with cheap commodities such as plant-based proteins or fossil fuels. High investment and production costs are considered the main reason for this, but a lack of economic incentives for sustainable production and CO2 mitigation should not be overlooked.
The development of new production technologies; the monetization of ecosystem services, such as water treatment, CO2 sequestration, and nutrient recycling; as well as the simultaneous production and marketing of “high-value, low-volume” and “low-value, high-volume” products from the same algal biomass are the most promising ways forward. A sustainable “algae industry” could be integral to the future bio-economy, enabling more resource-efficient food and fuel production and creating new products, companies, and jobs.
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Source: Jörg Ullmann & Daniel Grimm in Organic Agriculture volume 11, pages261–267 (2021)
