The industrial ecology of freshwater macroalgae for biomass applications

Industrial ecology is focused on recognising the inherent value inwaste streams and developing techniques that can efficiently recover this value. Freshwater macroalgae can become a foundation of this concept as they can be cultured in a range of waste streams where they can effectively remove excess nutrients, metals and metalloids, providing both a bioremediation service and a biomass resource. The cultured algal biomass can then be used as a product in animal feeds, biochar, biosorbents or as a feedstock biomass for the production of bioenergy. Freshwatermacroalgae provide a unique opportunity to transforma range of industries through the utilisation of wastewater to produce biomass that can be converted into valuable bioproducts.