Scaling algae production for green materials

A new bioreactor could make algae materials a viable alternative to petrochemicals

Spotted: The challenge of reducing our dependence on fossil fuels doesn’t stop with energy: plastics account for around 10 per cent of global oil production. Sustainable alternative materials are needed urgently, and although algae shows particular promise, its potential hasn’t been fully realised due to challenges with scale and cost. Enter Algenie.

The company has developed an innovative bioreactor, which offers a compact, scalable, and high-efficiency way to cultivate algae. Algenie’s helical photobioreactor delivers light and carbon dioxide to algae in a highly controlled environment, and its uniquely shaped design ensures maximised exposure to LED light. This significantly increases photoreactivity and yields, in contrast to conventional reactors that leave much of the algae biomass underexposed to light sources.

In essence, algae is fed into the top of the reactor and flows through a thin channel wrapped around a helical core. LEDs provide continuous, low-cost light while CO2 is pumped in, creating rapid growth in the algae and doubling its biomass every two to three hours. 

Algenie’s solution stands out because it has been built with cost-effectiveness and scalability at its core. Each reactor can be built in minutes, at a cost of a few hundred dollars. The startup claims that 70 reactors can fit inside a shipping container, with one container producing up to 20 times more algae per square metre than industry standards. This equates to using less than one-thousandth of the land needed for traditional agriculture like soy.

CEO and Founder Nick Hazell explains further, telling Springwise that “every kilo of algae sequesters nearly two kilos of CO2. So we can make our stuff from CO2. Economically, this is super exciting because it creates the possibility that sustainability and consumerism can have aligned goals.”

Currently in the patenting and prototyping stage, Algenie aims to launch straight into scalable manufacturing soon. The company hopes to disrupt multiple sectors with algae-derived bioplastics that break down naturally, from textiles to animal feed.

Written By: Oscar Williams