Microalgae are photosynthetic organisms that bind carbon dioxide and nutrients in their biomass while producing valuable compounds for energy, nutrition, and raw materials. The sustainability of microalgal cultivation is further enhanced by the use of waste streams as nutrient and carbon sources; a direct example of the implementation of circular economy. The aim of the MIDAS consortium is to improve process integration and control in microalgae-based processes and to promote the contribution of microalgae technology to the green and digital transition. The consortium is led by Dr. Pauliina Salmi from the Faculty of Information Technology at JYU and the third party is VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland.
In the Department of Biological and Environmental Science, we are investigating the use of effluent from recirculating aquaculture in microalgal cultivation, how carbon dioxide emissions from the system could be used to enhance biomass production, and how this affects the production of different biomolecules in the microalgae. The recirculating aquaculture technology saves water as compared to the traditional flow-through culture, and thus accumulates the nutrients that microalgae need to grow.
