October 12, 2026

Today we celebrate World Algae Day! Algae are among the oldest and most versatile organisms on Earth. For over a billion years they have shaped our atmosphere and ecosystems. Today they are recognised as a promising resource for tackling climate change, energy security, food scarcity and pollution.

Europe is investing in algae

The European Union has invested over €559 million in 219 algae related projects between 2014 and 2023, engaging 1,470 organisations across Horizon 2020, Horizon Europe, EMFF, EMFAF and LIFE. The European Commission’s Joint Research Centre also mapped the European algae value chain at about €191 million, supported by around 500 companies and over 2,000 employees. (CINEA,2025)

ALGAESOL: sunlight, microalgae and cleaner fuels

Aviation and shipping cannot easily run on batteries, so they need fuels with high energy content. Today those fuels still come mostly from fossil sources.

ALGAESOL is tackling this challenge. Coordinated by NORCE, our project unites seven partners from six countries, with a budget of €3.9 million over 36 months. We are developing sustainable fuels from microalgae and direct solar fuel production, with the potential to cut biofuel production costs by up to 25%.

Each partner brings a key piece of the puzzle:

  • NORCE optimises microalgae strains to boost biooil production and designs value chains for scale up.
  • Danish Technological Institute selects fast growing strains with efficient lipid (oil) production and protects cultures from contamination.
  • Leitat develops the photoanode that harvests sunlight and leads fuel purification and sustainability analysis.
  • Universitat de Girona advances bioelectrochemical systems.
  • SimTech builds simulations and a web based process model that stakeholders can test.

Stronger together

ALGAESOL is one of ten Horizon Europe projects forming the SUSTAFUELS cluster, alongside ALFAFUELS, CAPTUS, COCPIT, FUELGAE, ICARUS, NIAGARA, SusAlgaeFuel, SUNFUSION and SUSTEPS. Together they pool expertise in CO₂ utilisation, solar driven processes and microalgae biorefineries to speed up the path toward climate neutral aviation, maritime and road transport.

Together they pool expertise in CO₂ utilisation, solar driven processes and microalgae biorefineries to speed up the path toward climate neutral aviation, maritime and road transport.

The next chapter

The challenge now is to turn pilot plants into production facilities and research into real products. ALGAESOL is proud to contribute to that journey.

Follow our progress, meet the team and join our newsletter at algaesol.eu.

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 101147112.