Guest Editors
Florbela Carvalheiro
LNEG-National Laboratory of Energy and Geology, Bioenergy and Biorefineries Unit
Florbela Carvalheiro holds a PhD in Agro-industrial Engineering and is a senior researcher at Bioenergy and Biorefineries Unit (LNEG, Portugal). She started her research work at INETI (Portugal) on developing fermentative processes for the valorization of the lignocellulosic biomass. Since her PhD studies, she has been developing mild pretreatment processes aiming at the selective fractionation of different types of biomass (lignocellulosic, aquatic) towards an integrated upgrading in a biorefinery framework. In particular, her research interests are related to the valorization of sugar streams (oligosaccharides) and aromatics (lignin and phenolic compounds). From 2009-2017 she was the Coordinator of the Biomass Deconstruction Program at the Bioenergy Unit, and she is a funder member of SIADEB, the Ibero-American Society for the Development of Biorefineries.
Hermínia Domínguez
University of Vigo
Dr. Herminia Domínguez (Spain) is currently a Professor at the Faculty of Sciences of Ourense (University of Vigo). Her research is focused on the development of multistage processes based on the use of green efficient technologies aimed at the integral utilization of natural renewable resources. She has been working on seaweed biorefinery, optimizing the operative conditions for the sequential fractionation of macroalgal biomass to obtain high added value bioactive components with food, feed, cosmetic and pharmaceutical applications.
Luís C. Duarte
LNEG-National Laboratory of Energy and Geology, Bioenergy and Biorefineries Unit
Luis C. Duarte is a senior researcher and team leader at LNEG’s Bioenergy & Biorefineries Unit. He has been coordinating and participating in many (inter)national research projects, including direct R&D contracts with the industry aiming to upgrade biomass resources into bioproducts and biofuels. His main scientific interests span from the selective fractionation of diverse types of biomass using innovative methods to the production of high added-value products, preferably using bioconversion, to accomplish full environmental and economic sustainability for the biorefinery concept. He is Secretary-general for the Ibero-American Society for the Development of Biorefineries and acts as an expert in the European Energy Research Alliance (EERA), the European Sustainable Energy Innovation Alliance (ESEIA), and the European Commission as a project evaluator
Collection Overview
Macroalgae can be obtained both from natural sources (e.g., natural growth or algae blooms) or in areas dedicated to their cultivation. The latter could be either in areas strictly dedicated to its production or associated with fish farming systems in an Integrated Multi-Trophic Aquaculture. Macroalgae play a pivotal role in the onset of blue bioeconomy and climate change mitigation because of their advantages over terrestrial biomass, e.g., no competition for land use. They also act as promising feedstocks for the development of marine biorefineries.
This collection aims to present an overview of macroalgae processing methods to highlight their potential for a bio-based economy and the recent developments in this area. Expected contributions to this collection include macroalgae growth, harvest, transport, and storage, assessment of the chemical composition of different algae species, methodologies for extraction of chemicals/fractionation (pre-treatment) of algal biomass (including cell disruption technologies), chemical/biological conversion of macroalgae to energy carriers (e.g., liquid and gaseous biofuels), innovative macroalgae uses in agriculture, feed, food, cosmetics, and pharmaceuticals, development of groundbreaking biorefinery schemes and development of supply chains.
We believe visual information should bring necessary details about the feedstocks, instruments, and techniques. This will increase reproducibility, foster standard lab assays, and offer an important overview of aquatic biomass contribution to a bio-based economy.
Articles
Abstracts
Carbohydrate compositional analysis of macroalgal biomass
Jaap Willem van Hal*1
1TNO Energy Transition