A consortium of researchers and industries is betting on an underdog they hope will become a sustainability hero of the future: microalgae.
Funded by the Circular Bio-based Europe Joint Undertaking (CBE JU) and running from September 2025 to August 2029, the ALLIANCE research project seeks to optimise how microalgae are grown and processed.
By lowering costs, waste and resources, the aim is to bring sustainable, algae-based products within reach of consumers, farmers and other industrial users.
“Over the past few decades, Europe’s algae industry has grown a lot, but it’s still mostly centred on small, high-value markets – things like food supplements and nutraceuticals” says Maria Barbosa, scientific coordinator of the project and Professor in bioprocess engineering at Wageningen University, in the Netherlands.
“Now, demand for microalgae-based products is expected to rise sharply, especially as people look for alternative food ingredients and bio-based chemicals, and as the EU continues pushing for a more bio-based economy”.
However, making microalgae mainstream in the supply chain won’t be easy, and several hurdles stand in the way. Current manufacturing systems mostly rely on freshwater and added nutrients, while delivering relatively limited product yields per unit of biomass.
“For algae to be used widely in food, feed, and other everyday products, the industry needs to become more sustainable, more profitable, and more circular. Right now, production costs and limited market size are holding back large-scale commercialisation”.
These are exactly the barriers the ALLIANCE research project aims to tackle, by addressing the whole value chain.
The project brings together 19 partners, eight of which come from industry. Two are microalgae producers, while a mix of SMEs and one large enterprise are end users of microalgae products for food and feed applications. These applications include the aquaculture, cultivated meat and beer sectors. Another two SMEs are technology providers.
Meanwhile five universities and six research institutes focus on streamlining the processes – at both lab and pilot scale – and on the development of new technologies to boost production and biomass valorisation, reducing environmental impact at all stages.
Multi-product biorefineries
Microalgae offer, in principle, an innovative, reliable and locally anchored production model that also eases pressure on land use.
The partners are working to develop optimised multi-product biorefineries for microalgae Spirulina, Galdieria, Chlorella and Nannochloropsis. Starting from single algae biomasses, the goal is to generate multiple products by markedly improving process efficiency.
“A microalgae multi-product biorefinery is a known but difficult concept to realise” says Iago Teles. “The principle is to be able to separate the biomass in different components which can be used for different products, to broaden the range of microalgae-based items ready to enter EU markets,” adds Maria Barbosa.
“These products include lipids (omega-3 fatty acids, neutral lipids, phospholipids), protein concentrates, hydrolized peptides and carbohydrates”.
They serve as versatile ingredients for foods, beverages, aquaculture feed, cell growth media for lab-cultured meat, and even biological pest control solutions.
By working on four different production pipelines – one for each microalgae strain – the project intends to deliver a total of 19 different ingredients and 12 product prototypes within four years.
Circular economy
Three of the four microalgae strains are already part of commercial production lines in Europe and worldwide. “Spirulina and Chlorella are already considered safe for food, while Nannochloropsis is mainly used in aquaculture,” explains Maria Barbosa.
Galdieria sulphuraria is considered a promising new species with potential as an important feedstock. “The blue pigment from this strain has already had the FDA approval for food use in the US, but it’s still awaiting EFSA approval in Europe – a process that started three years ago and is being led by one of our partners, Fermentalg,” she adds.
Even though these microalgae are already on the market, the sector still struggles with issues like resource efficiency and environmental impact. “Production systems are mostly linear, with an inefficient use of resources, and a lot of energy, water, and nutrients, generating significant waste. This puts pressure on natural resources and limits the industry’s long-term growth.”
The ALLIANCE project aims to move beyond the current state of the art. “The project focuses on improving several parts of the process, including intensifying production, and separation of different biomass components, so that the entire pipeline becomes more efficient, more cost-effective, and fully aligned with the principles of a sustainable, circular bio-based economy”.
More with less is the guiding motto of the initiative, complemented by the 4Rs principle: reduce, reuse, recycle, and recover.
Reduction of nutrients and energy demand will be achieved through process automation and by tailoring culture media and processes to each microalgae species. Water and nutrients from previous production cycles will be reused by improved harvesting methods.
“Recycling and recovering nutrients from other industrial side streams represent an additional sustainable and cost-effective approach that will reduce the need for de novo nutrient input” says Maria Barbosa.
