Innovative microalgae solutions for sustainable aquaculture: Enhancing wastewater treatment and biomass production in the Chilean Patagonia salmon industry, is the title of the poster presented by Dr Cynthia Urrutia Molina, academic from the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of ULagos, in the AlgaEurope Congress 2024, held between 10 and 13 December in Athens, Greece.
At the presentation, Dr. Urrutia shared the results obtained in the first years of the FONDECYT initiation project No. 11230975, developed together with a team composed of graduates from the Environmental Engineering degree, environmental engineer Claudio Navarro and students from the Master's programme in Sciences and the Nursing degree.
The AlgaEurope 2024 Congress was organized by the European Algae Biomass Association (EABA) and the DLG Benelux organization. It is an annual conference dedicated to promoting the advances and trends of the sector that addresses algae biomass, which in its latest version brought together 424 delegates from 43 countries and 256 organizations, who during four days participated in the global platform for scientific, technological and business collaboration in the seaweed industry
Under the commitments awarded in the FONDECYT initiation project No 11230975 Simultaneous system for biopurification and biorefinery by microalgae cultivation in Chilean salmon industry wastewater under the circular economy concept, ANID, (2023-2026), is framed the presentation of Dr. Urrutia at the AlgaEurope 2024 Congress. In this way, the University of Los Lagos was one of the two Chilean universities that presented papers at this conference.
Subsequently, Dr. Urrutia made a visit to the Microalgae Biotechnology laboratories of the University of Almeria. In contact with Dr. Gabriel Acien, academic of the Department of Chemical Engineering, in order to know the facilities and the development of processes based on microalgae at pre-industrial level.
This visit is part of the linkage of the current research project FONDECYT, an experience of great relevance to discuss future collaboration between institutions, aimed at the development of joint projects.
“To participate in these prestigious events as was AlgaEurope 2024, where I was able to link with researchers of great trajectories in microalgae biotechnology and its real and feasible applications in circular bioeconomy systems, allows us to spread the research that is being developed at the University of Los Lagos under the FONDECYT project, as well as to share experiences, know new perspectives to our projects and explore future collaborations,” said the researcher.
