Researchers at the University of Algarve (UAlg) are developing technology that will allow the use of microalgae to produce biofuels.
A team of scientists from the Marine and Environmental Research Center (CIMA), led by Sara Raposo, is collaborating in the implementation of a strategy to promote the technological development of microalgae biotechnology in the energy, health, cosmetics and aquaculture sectors, in the context of of the international network “Algared+”.
«CIMA's Environmental Engineering and Biotechnology Laboratory will be dedicated to exploring renewable energies, bioethanol, biodiesel and biomethane production, as well as other products that may be of interest from a biorefinery perspective», according to Sara Raposo.
At the same time, other groups of researchers will dedicate themselves «to other areas of exploration, with applicability in the areas of health, cosmetics and aquaculture».
According to the University of Algarve, CIMA researchers will seek to «optimize the conditions for the growth of microalgae for the production of bioenergy, through the use of different fractions of biomass».
“Starch, reserve sugar, and cellulose and hemicellulose, present in the walls of microalgae, will be hydrolyzed into simpler, fermentable sugars, which will then be used as a carbon source for bioethanol production. The oils will be characterized and, depending on their composition, will be used for the production of biodiesel or high value products, and the residual biomass may also be used for the production of biogas, through anaerobic digestion”, explained UAlg.
Although the main focus of the project is the production of biofuels, it will also try to combine this activity “with the obtaining of products of interest, such as carotenoids, pigments found in nature with interest in the food and health sector”.
In Sara Raposo's view, this is an area of research «of great interest at a national and international level, which is in wide expansion, both in development and in the search for new alternatives in terms of renewable energy».
«The objective is to contribute to sustainable development, through the exploitation of biological resources in a sustainable and environmentally friendly way, in a concept of integrated biorefinery, in which, together with energy production, we will have other processes for the production of high-value products from of algal biomass, that is, we will make use of clean and at the same time integrated processing technologies», added the project coordinator.
According to UAlg, “Algared+” “is an international network of excellence, constituted under the Operational Program EP-INTERREG VA Spain-Portugal (POCTEP), formed by universities, research centers, public and private companies in the aquaculture sector , biomedicine and microalgae production'.
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