World Aquaculture Singapore 2022

November 29 - December 2, 2022

Singapore

MICROALGAE PRODUCTION FOR BIOMASS AND HIGH-VALUE PRODUCTS

Razif Harun, Farahin Abd Wahab, Natrah Ikhsan, Fatimah Md Yusoff, and Tatsuki Toda

 

Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor Malaysia

*Presenting author: Razif Harun (E-mail: mh_razif@upm.edu.my)

 



Algae are a diverse group of autotrophic organisms that have gained a vast amount of interest due to their growth requirements, such as the use of light energy, their rapid growth ability as well as in fixing atmospheric CO2, and the fact that they can produce more biomass per acre than land plants. They represent an intriguing solution to the nexus of energy, food, and waste. They are cultivated for their various benefits, e.g., high protein, lipid, vitamins, and bioactive compounds, making them excellent candidates for various bio-product developments. These photosynthetic microorganisms are also superior in terms of biomass productivity compared to their land-based counterparts, i.e., plants, as they grow much faster, enabling biomass production to be optimized within a smaller land footprint. Such advantages justified the increasing interest in these organisms as potential resources for renewable and sustainable products, which are available worldwide in the form of pharmaceutical and nutraceutical products, cosmetics, animal feed, fertilizer, and biofuel. These versatile organisms are also applied in wastewater treatment and carbon dioxide sequestration. This further highlights the use of microalgae in solving issues related to environmental sustainability. And with that potential, the commercial production of microalgae must also consider the other two pillars of sustainability, which are economical and social considerations. Researchers are attempting many efforts to make microalgal cultivation sustainable, environmentally friendly, and cost-effective.