The actual demand for phycocyanin is tremendous, especially in the food industry where it is used as a natural food colorant. With a world demand of over 100 metric tons, the global market is expected to continue to grow. As proof of this potential, world leaders in that field are investing several million dollars in production lines. Being authorized under the American Food and Drug administration since 2013, its production remains very artisanal worldwide and important amelioration possibilities exist at several levels. This project aims to build a demonstration plant with a progressive production capacity of 10MT of phycocyanin per year. Successful demonstration is critical in order to ensure a swift transition towards an industrial capacity. For this project, the partners (GREENSEA, MILIS, ALGAIA AND MIAL) have concluded a strategic industrial partnership with the ambition to revisit the sourcing, extraction and co-valorization of the whole algae in the frame of an industrial biorefinery concept and a business model strategy. In complement, UCD will be in charge of the Life Cycle Assessment, to undertake a comprehensive sustainability evaluation of the project. Partners will work over 48 months to find ways to innovate in their own field but always working with a collaborative objective to build a more efficient bio-based full value chain with stable products and valorization of co-products. The consortium gathers all the expertise and an economic analysis will be made as well as a life cycle assessment. A communication and dissemination plan is already established. This project will increase the competitiveness of European biomass producers and industry by supporting new jobs, growth and investment while ensuring environmental sustainability and a low environmental impact.

TexMaTer aims at producing novel cellulosic fibres and bioformulations for textiles’ finishing using under-utilised biomass resources and wastes from agricultural practices and micro- and macroalgal production (typically rich in cellulose and other bioactive compounds) and post-consumer home textiles (as an extra source of cellulose). These functional and sustainable solutions will be further used in prototypes for fashion and home textiles’ markets. The project covers all steps required to produce novel cellulosic fibres and functional textiles for the envisaged markets: from the obtention and transformation of raw materials for application in textile production processes, to fibres/yarns production and bioformulations development (at laboratory, pilot and industrial scales), ending with eco-design and prototypes manufacture. To ensure recyclability and circularity of the developed solutions, and an efficient uptake of the products by the consumer, the development of TexMaTer products will be designed considering promising End-of-Life (EoL) alternatives and also functionality, safety, environmental sustainability and social and economic benefits for consumers. Consumer behaviour studies and raising-awareness actions are also planned, thus contributing to increase consumers’ acceptance for the developed products. By incorporating bio-based resources and promoting the upcycling of post-consumer textiles, TexMaTer will increase the competitiveness of the textile & clothing industry (T&CI), significantly reducing the negative environmental impacts commonly associated to this sector: 1) the intensive use of synthetic fibres, virgin cotton and wood-based cellulose (whose production is responsible for high CO2 emissions, water consumption and contamination, and inappropriate forest management, respectively); and 2) the overutilisation of synthetic dyes and chemicals in textile finishing processes (which are typically rejected in textile wastewaters and recalcitrant).

Over 100 Megatons of seaweed constitute Europe's largest biomass, but less than 0.25% is utilized. Marine industry stakeholders are currently left with 50-70% of residual side-streams sold as low-cost fertilizers. Existing data on more than 10000 macroalgae species could help this industry to improve their processes but the data is too large and manual curation is not feasible. Despite the progression of artificial intelligence (A.I.) and digital instruments, these techniques have barely entered the biobased sector. iCulture is a cross-disciplinary consortium where European expertise on ICT, bioinformatic, biodiversity, biotechnology, synthetic biology and bioprocessing is combined to develop a set of digital toolboxes that can prospect for new species of seaweed, utilize these in microbial fermentation, and understand how to use it responsibly and sustainably. Over 80 TB of existing seaweed data and 700.000 genes will be mined by machine learning algorithms in an A.I. toolbox to identify macroalgae characteristics: growth, response to environmental conditions, chemical composition and more. These will be used by a predictive Model toolbox, with models for compositional changes, recovery, resilience and Dispersion, to deliver key features that are important for responsible resource management. A Bioprocess technology toolbox will use this information for a machine learning controlled microbial co-culture, that will convert complex sugar mixtures to catalysts producing high-value antimicrobials. The multiple benefits of this digital platform are 1) boost the prospecting efficiency of new species by using powerful A.I. algorithms 2) help to understand the potential and vulnerability of resources, so that a responsible management strategy can guide the operations of stakeholders, and 3) create a novel value-chain, valorizing European seaweed side-streams into valuable antimicrobials (>$150/kg) for feed, food and pharma, while reducing CO2 footprint more than 20%.

The GENIALG project aims to boost the Blue Biotechnology Economy (BBE) by increasing the production and sustainable exploitation of two high-yielding species of the EU seaweed biomass: the brown alga Saccharina latissima and the green algae Ulva spp. GENIALG will demonstrate the economic feasibility and environmental sustainability of cultivating and refining seaweed biomass in multiple use demanded products of marine renewable origin. The consortium integrates available knowledge in algal biotechnology and ready to use reliable eco-friendly tools and methods for selecting and producing high yielding strains in economically feasible quantities and qualities. By cracking the biomass and supplying a wide diversity of chemical compounds for existing as well as new applications and markets, GENIALG will anticipate the economic, social and environmental impacts of such developments in term of economic benefit and job opportunities liable to increase the socio-economic value of the blue biotechnology sector. In a larger frame, conservation and biosafety issues will be addressed as well as more social aspects such as acceptability and competition for space and water regarding other maritime activities. To achieve these objectives GENIALG will foster a trans-sectorial and complementary consortium of scientists and private companies. • GENIALG will involve a diversity of private companies already positioned in the seaweed sector individually for different applications (texturants, feed, agriculture, bioplastics, pharmaceuticals, personal care products…) in order to strengthen interactions for developing a bio-refinery concept and accelerate efficient and sustainable exploitation of seaweed biomass to bring new high-value products on the market.

Seaweed is a valuable and underutilised resource that has large potential for exploitation in a variety of markets. Seaweed cultivation is a natural solution for mitigating climate change. The European seaweed industry remains in its infancy and requires significant growth in order to become commercially viable. Seamark will utilise recent ground-breaking selective breeding technologies within EU seaweed crop genetics to increase biomass yield. SeaMark aims to upscale circular ocean seaweed cultivation and land-based integrated multi-trophic aquaculture (IMTA) systems and develop novel processing methods involving fermentation and biotransformation into twelve innovative seaweed-based products. The entire value chain will be analysed for techno-economic feasibility and socio-economic impact. SeaMark will also identify and quantify ecosystem services provided by seaweed cultivation. This will feed into a strategic development plan for upscaling seaweed production, and addressing the carrying capacity of seaweed cultivation in Europe. Due to the need to build more resilient food systems and decrease reliance on fossil-based products, it is necessary to grow the blue bio-economy through seaweed cultivation and product innovation. SeaMark will help fulfil the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (3, 8, 9, 12, 13 & 14) by developing this industry and, simultaneously, providing a positive impact on people and the planet.