The last seven chapters have focused on one goal: mastering the open raceway pond, the professional workhorse of the algae industry. But technology doesn’t stop for anyone, and the most successful ventures are always looking ahead to what’s next on the horizon to gain a competitive edge. What if your biggest input costs—water, nutrients, and carbon dioxide—weren’t costs at all, but revenue streams? This isn’t a thought experiment; it’s a business model that flips the traditional economics of algae production on its head.
This chapter explores how that powerful model works. We’ll examine how an “Algae as a Service” strategy transforms an algae farm into a provider of environmental services, turning significant operational costs into sources of revenue and making the algal biomass itself a valuable co-product of an already profitable service operation.
Algae as a Service: Two Pathways
Wastewater Treatment
As the world faces increasing pressure and competition for freshwater resources, the need to efficiently treat and recycle every drop of water has become critical. Algae are ideally suited for this role. Municipal and some industrial wastewaters contain an excess of nitrogen and phosphorus—pollutants to the environment, but the exact nutrients your algae need to thrive. Just imagine: an integrated system could produce clean water, capture valuable nutrients, and create useful biomass, all while lowering the energy costs for the treatment facility.
Carbon Capture
Similarly, as industries worldwide seek to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions as part of an ongoing effort to address climate change, effective carbon capture technologies are in high demand. Your algae have a huge appetite for carbon dioxide. In fact, producing one ton of algae biomass fixes about 1.8 tons of CO2. An algae farm situated adjacent to an industrial producer of CO2, such as a power plant or cement factory, could convert their waste product into your product’s most important fertilizer. This synergy not only provides a free, concentrated nutrient source but can also open the door to revenue from carbon credits, fundamentally changing the economics of your operation.
The Next Frontier: Engineering the Algae
Historically, the challenge in the algae industry has been to engineer the cultivation system—the pond, the paddlewheel, the CO2 injector—to perfectly suit the needs of a conventional algae strain. The next great leap forward in efficiency and profitability will come from flipping that script: engineering the algae itself to perfectly suit the needs of the system and the desired final product.
Genetic engineering allows operational problems to be solved at a more efficient biological level rather than with expensive mechanical fixes. Instead of building a costly pond cooling system, for example, an operator could one day use a strain of algae engineered to be more tolerant of high temperatures.
The goal is to design “super strains” optimized for industrial production. This could mean engineering algae with the following:
- Enhanced growth rates and higher yields of specific products, like lipids for biofuel.
- Improved tolerance to stressors like temperature swings or high salinity.
- Better resistance to contamination from grazers or viruses.
In the context of the “Algae as a Service” model, this is a game-changer. Imagine algae strains specifically designed to be more effective at capturing pollutants from a particular industrial partner’s wastewater or to be more efficient at utilizing the specific CO2 concentration from their flue gas. This is the future: not just finding the right algae for the job but designing the perfect one.
Putting It All Together: An Integrated Biorefinery Scenario
The concepts of “Algae as a Service” and the “Value Stack Biorefinery” are powerful on their own, but they are most effective when combined. Let’s imagine a real-world scenario that illustrates how these strategies work together.
Consider a large ethanol production plant. This facility produces two significant waste streams: a steady flow of pure, concentrated CO2 from its fermentation process and nutrient-rich wastewater. An entrepreneurial algae farm is co-located directly next door, creating a powerful industrial symbiosis.
The “Service” Synergy
The algae farm first establishes a service agreement. It might charge the ethanol plant a tipping fee for treating its wastewater while generating additional revenue from carbon credits for capturing and utilizing the CO2. This immediately turns the algae farm’s two biggest input costs (carbon and nutrients) into profit centers.
The “Value Stack” Payoff
Fed by this free, continuous supply of fertilizer, the algae grow at a maximum rate. The harvested biomass is then processed through a value stack:
- First, the bulk protein is extracted from the biomass and sold as a high-value co-product to the animal feed market.
- Next, the remaining lipids are extracted and converted into biodiesel. In a perfect closed-loop system, this biodiesel can be sold right back to the ethanol plant to power its fleet of transport trucks.
- Finally, any residual biomass is converted into an organic soil amendment, ensuring nothing is wasted.
In this scenario, the algae farm is a highly profitable, resilient business. It has multiple, diversified revenue streams and minimal input costs. It addresses an environmental issue for its industrial partner while producing sustainable food and fuel. This is the ultimate vision of a successful, modern algae enterprise.
Conclusion: The Foundation of Success
From the high-value extracts in a multi-tiered biorefinery to the elegant symbiosis of an “Algae as a Service” operation, algae’s potential is immense. However, realizing that potential takes professional engineering and deliberate control over every stage of the production process.
At the heart of that control is the physical infrastructure of the pond itself. A high-quality geomembrane liner is the foundation that makes professional cultivation possible. It contains water and nutrients, prevents contamination from the soil, allows for precise pH management, and provides a clean surface for efficient harvesting without product loss.
Precise control is never more critical than when using algae to provide environmental services. Treating wastewater, for example, can only be responsibly achieved within a fully contained, lined system that guarantees the contaminated water cannot seep into the surrounding ground. The liner ensures that you are solving an environmental problem, not inadvertently creating a new one.
