The diatom mass cultivation project (leader H. C. Eilertsen, NFH, BFE)
The project is a cooperation between UiT and the ferrosilicon producer Finnfjord AS, and involves transformation of CO2 in factory smoke into marine biomass by microalgae-based photosynthesis. The algae can provide a plethora of valuable products (food, feed, biofuel), with fish feed currently being the main product, due to the need of the aquaculture industry for feed with higher omega-3 content. The algae biomass is also bioprospected. This project involves large-scale CO2 mitigation and will also reduce CO2-footprint of fish feed due to shorter transport distances of ingredients. The project is now being upgraded with a 320 000L photobioreactor.
Read more here:
https://forskning.no/2017/06/et-algeeventyr/produsert-og-finansiert-av/uit-norges-arktiske-universitet (in Norwegian)
https://www.barentswatch.no/en/articles/Alger/ (in English)
On the picture (from the left): Martina Uradnikova, Gunilla Eriksen, Richard Ingebrigtsen, Hans Christian Eilertsen, Nerea Aalto, Renadø Døving Osvik (in the back), Andrea Gerecht (blue sweater), Lars Dahlheim (in the back), Jon – Brage Svenning (red sweater)