Objectives

The scientific goal of this project is to exploit photosynthesis, a process which can convert carbon dioxide into high value compounds. From a technological viewpoint the aim is to develop and commericalise a new generation of photobioreactor based on hybrid photosynthetic materials derived from cell encapsulation methodologies.

Phase I (0-24 months):

Selection of the photosynthetic organism including any physiological or metabolic engineering of the chosen strain.

Synthesis and implementation of hybrid photosynthetic materials.

Determination of the optimum geometry of the hybrid photosynthetic material.

Design and optimisation of a pilot fixed biomass photobioreactor.

Phase II (24-48 months):

Scaling up production of optimised strain.

Scaling up of cell encapsulation (i.e. scaling up production of hybrid photosynthetic material)

Optimising the orientation of the hybrid material for maximum recovery of metabolites within the pilot photobioreactor.

Scaling up of the photobioreactor (production of 10 grams per month of metabolite).