Kyoto University team sets up pilot plant for diatom algae cultivation from CO2 and sewage nitrogen

A 3.5 x 6 meters pool type culture tank and a 2 x 10 meters race way type culture tank were installed in a greenhouse, and allow cultivation of about 5 ~ 8 tons of diatom Chaetoceros gracilis algae. The plant is located in a sewage plant in Himeji which allows the inflow of nutrients other than CO2. One of the products was fucoxantin, another, by expressing a bacterial fatty acid hydroxylase gene, was ricinoleic acid which can not be synthesized in wild-type diatoms. Ricinoleic acid is a useful raw material for plastics. The project led by Kentaro IBU is supported by NEDO.

NEDO news release, January 25, 2018

Kyoto University team sets up pilot plant for diatom algae cultivation from CO2 and sewage nitrogen
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