Algae and climate - final report

The study builds on an extensive literature review, a survey, and in-depth interviews to
investigate the potential of 10 microalgae and macroalgae production systems in
contributing to animal feed requirements in the EU. It summarizes the current state of
knowledge in terms of biomass, nutritional yields, costs and greenhouse gas (GHG)
emissions. The report also compares production systems against land-based crops (e.g.
soya) with similar nutritional properties. Finally, it assesses the EU potential for algae
production that could be supported by current CO2 point-source emissions and that could
contribute to (today and in the future) animal’s feed requirements.
Overall, as algae production is an area where production and Research & Development
are evolving in parallel, there is significant variability in values estimated for the criteria
investigated. Follow-up research is required in particular on: (1) additional macro- and
microalgae species, as well as additional land-based production systems; (2) post-
harvest processing to support upscaling of biomass production in a sustainable manner
and to remove unwanted minerals; and (3) improvement of nutritional value (e.g.
digestibility and assimilation) of cultivable algae for animals.