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Ir. Marcel Geers
(Alliander)
Company Members
AF&F
DeAlg B.V.
Delta
Dow Chemicals
Eneco Energie
Essent
Friesland Foods
Hubert
Ingrepro
Liandon
Neste Oil
Rosendaal Energy
Syngenta
Unilever
Knowledge institute members
Wageningen University, Bioprocess Engineering Group
Prof.dr. René H. Wijffels, dr.ir. Marcel Janssen, dr. Marian
H. Vermuë, dr. Dirk E. Martens, Niels-Henrik Norsker (MSc),
Ing. Rouke Bosma
Food Chemistry Group
Prof.dr. Harry Gruppen, Ing. René Kuijpers
Systems and Control Group
Prof.dr. Gerrit van Straaten, dr. A.J.B. van Boxtel
Algae
Microalgae represent a promising feedstock for production of 2nd generation biofuels. It is a very attractive alternative compared to terrestrial oleaginous species because their productivity is much higher and it does not compete for land suitable for agriculture. Moreover microalgae have very simple growth requirements; carbon dioxide, water (saline or brackish) and nutrients. However, the relevant production technology must be improved to make biofuels production from microalgae economically feasible. Production of microalgae will be economically feasible if microalgae are produced for a combination of applications. In this theme Wageningen University will work together with industrial partners with the ambition to develop effi cient technology to make sustainable industrial production of biofuels and other products from microalgae economically possible. Microalgae will be used as a feedstock and via biorefi nery approaches a combination of products will be developed, such as:
- Lipids as a source of biofuels and as feedstock for the chemical industry
- Proteins and carbohydrates for food and feed
- Fixation of CO2
- O2 rich gas
- Nutrient removal from waste
The main bottlenecks in the process we have to solve is the reduction of the energy input for mixing, CO2 supply, O2 removal (degassing) and harvesting. At the same time we need to maintain high biomass productivity at a high biomass specifi c lipid content.
