Planning for algae as Food

World Population and how to feed it  ... 

Green eats the future

Feeding the world

Without algae there would be no life on earth. Every second molecule of oxygen that we breathe comes from them. Algae could also become more important as food in the future. Fraunhofer researchers are working on professional cultivation and the extraction of numerous proteins and other nutrients.

Web special Fraunhofer magazine 3.2022

The United Nations calculated that the eight billionth person was born on November 15th. The world population has doubled in just 50 years. Even if the growth has now slowed down significantly: 8.5 billion people are forecast for 2030 and 9.7 billion for 2050. More people means: less farmland, less drinking water and less food per capita. The climate crisis means that the shortage situation is getting worse. Due to desertification, i.e. the deterioration of the soil to the point of desertification, arable land the size of Bavaria is lost worldwide every year. Already a third of the fertile soil has become unusable in the past 40 years - a result of the overexploitation as arable land and pasture. The German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ) estimates that around 70 percent more food will be needed by 2050 than today. Aquatic organisms, which quite wrongly still lead a niche existence, especially in the European food industry, could help: algae. Algae contain as much protein as soy, plenty of valuable fiber and minerals, and vitamin B12, which is otherwise only found in animal products. 

The superfood needs neither fresh water nor land. It grows sustainably in the sea or is cultivated as a unicellular microalgae in mostly closed systems. Algae contain as much protein as soy, plenty of valuable fiber and minerals, and vitamin B12, which is otherwise only found in animal products. The superfood needs neither fresh water nor land. It grows sustainably in the sea or is cultivated as a unicellular microalgae in mostly closed systems. Algae contain as much protein as soy, plenty of valuable fiber and minerals, and vitamin B12, which is otherwise only found in animal products. The superfood needs neither fresh water nor land. It grows sustainably in the sea or is cultivated as a unicellular microalgae in mostly closed systems.   .... '