Turning algae into food: ITQB NOVA joins European project ALGANOVA
Oeiras, 25th July 2026
The EU protein market remains largely dependent on animal sources, which account for approximately 55% of dietary intake. This raises environmental and health concerns. For example, producing 1 kg of beef requires up to 2,700 litres of water and generates around 60 kg of CO₂-equivalent greenhouse gas emissions.
ALGANOVA is a new project to develop more sustainable ways to produce high-value food ingredients, such as protein, healthy fats and carotenoids, from microalgae. These microorganisms can grow using agro-marine by-products and industrial CO₂, helping transform waste streams and emissions into useful materials for food production. In doing so, the project supports the development of microalgae-based biorefineries and a more circular food system with a lower environmental impact.
At ITQB NOVA, the project will be led by Francisco Nascimento, auxiliary researcher and “la Caixa” Fellow at the Institute. Within the project, ITQB NOVA will contribute to the optimisation of microalgae cultivation. Researchers will also carry out genomic and transcriptomic analyses to better understand how these microalgae function to support industrial application. “We are going to study microalgae collected from Portuguese rivers, including Lima, Arado, and Zêzere, to evaluate their potential for producing biomass and other valuable products. We will also investigate how alternative growth substrates can increase biomass production and reduce production costs,” Francisco explains.
Coordinated by Idener Research & Development, from Spain, ALGANOVA brings together 12 institutions and will run from 1 June 2026 to 31 May 2030. By the end of the project, the consortium expects these algae biorefineries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 40% per kg of protein compared with conventional animal protein systems. The project also aims to reduce freshwater use to ~300 L/kg protein, significantly below soy and animal protein benchmarks, and to upcycle up to 95% of agro-marine by-products.
