The future is green: ecoduna welcomed international algae-industry experts at one of the most important summits of the European algae world

Bruck a. d. Leitha (Austria), 2 May 2018 – In the run-up to the ‘8th European Algae Industry Summit’ which took place in Vienna from 25 to 26 April, 70 international algae experts took the opportunity to study the patented technologies of ecoduna. Silvia Fluch, COO ecoduna, and Johann Karmel, CEO ecoduna, gave a tour presenting the visiting experts the production site of the technology leader. The company in the Austrian town of Bruck a. d. Leitha is one of the hotspots of the global green-technology scene.

Largely contamination-free system
The market for biomass from algae production promises continuous growth and lucrative areas of business. So far, commodities of open-production plants from Asia and America have dominated the market – these ‘open-pound quality’ products, however, are often heavily contaminated due to their uncontrolled growing conditions. As a result, Asian goods, which in many cases do not meet the legal standards in Europe despite offering various quality certificates, are not suitable for being further processed into food products. The patented process of ecoduna allows the production of microalgae with a tremendously improved quality: ecoduna’s microalgae proliferate within a high-purity environment in a closed, largely contamination-free system – a crucial factor that is especially appreciated by demanding customers. The plant can produce various types of microalgae fitting the respective customer requirements.

The market from an expert's point of view
Vítor Verdelho Vieira, President of the European Algae Biomass Association (EABA), identifies the correlation with demand markets: “The highest investments are currently happening in nutraceuticals, which are medically effective foods, as well as in cosmeceuticals, which are skin-care products with highly concentrated ingredients for specific needs, such as, for example, products against premature wrinkling or hyperpigmentation. The fact that there is already a well-established market also came as a surprise for me.” Ten years earlier, neither algae as biomass nor products based on algae were a topic talked about. Trends around ingredients such as omega-3 fatty acids have also raised the awareness level in terms of algae. Today, microalgae are traded as coveted ingredients: from fertilizer, to animal feed, to additives for wastewater treatment – the variety of applications is already considerable. This spectrum is particularly attractive to investors and will continue to generate profitable demand in the future.

Continental shift in the consumer markets
The main topics of the eighth ‘European Algae Industry Summit’ combined commercial, technical, and research perspectives with the needs of different final consumers. Verdelho sees a big difference between the needs of multinational corporations, start-ups, and smaller businesses, depending on the location: “Corporations in the U.S. are predominantly commercially driven, whereas European ones are more focused on research and technology. Compared with the Asian continent, which is very product-related in its development, Europe is more oriented towards results from an academic environment and also pushes the idea of innovation.” Similarly, European global players are also more active when it comes to discovering new algae producers and closing deals. The reasons for this are certainly the flexible production of state-of-the-art equipment, such as that of ecoduna which is an EABA member. Single-origin biomass made-to-order and a capacity of up to 100 tonnes of biomass per year make Europeans competitive.

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