Innovative, safe, and sustainable multiproduct biorefineries for blue bio-based economy (ALLIANCE)

ALLIANCE aims to broaden the adoption of microalgae-based products in the EU market, improving the profitability, circularity, and overall sustainability of the production, processing, and product development stages. Our ambition is to demonstrate the effective implementation of medium-value algae-based ingredients through multi-product biorefineries for the food, cellular agriculture, aquaculture, and agriculture sectors. Previous sustainability and cost analyses clearly pointed out our R&D&I objectives: to recirculate nutrients and water. ALLIANCE aspires to expand access to microalgae-based products in the EU market, making them more affordable and sustainable. Our ambition is to demonstrate multi-product biorefineries for ingredients intended for food, aquaculture, and agriculture.

Previous sustainability and cost analyses clearly highlighted our R&D&I objectives: nutrient and water recirculation, efficient and automated production control, reduction of nutrient consumption, prioritization of the use of renewable energies and off-the-grid operation, as well as solvent-free biorefinery processes. The project will focus on the vertical integration of upstream and downstream processes, developing and demonstrating technological solutions for the aforementioned objectives in four existing algae value chains, which will be expanded from 4 to 15 fraction/product lines (with near-zero waste). ALLIANCE will use solvent-free extraction and purification technologies that are scalable and cost-competitive, as well as wet biomass, avoiding the dehydration process. The developed ingredients will feed into an integrated strategic exploitation plan to identify different business cases, as well as their timelines and markets. We will work with a multidisciplinary and multi-actor approach, relying on a broad group of stakeholders to reach European consumers and support the penetration and acceptance of microalgae-based bioproducts. Finally, we will collaborate with policymaking communities to propose concrete solutions that address existing gaps in legislation and regulatory frameworks.