Inside Iceland’s futuristic farm growing algae for food

In the shadow of Iceland’s geothermal power plant, a large warehouse houses a state-of-the-art home farm that is like nothing I’ve ever seen.

Under the unusual glow of pink-pepo, the light panels are heard with circular lines of water boiling in the distance, while the future crop of the plant grows.

That’s where Iceland’s Vaxa Technologies has developed a system that uses energy and other resources from a nearby power plant to grow aquatic microorganisms.

“It’s a new way of thinking about food production,” says general manager Kristinn Haflidason as she shows me around the warehouse.

For most of our history, humans have eaten seaweed, also called macroalgae.

But its smaller relative, microalgae has become a rare food, although it has been eaten for centuries in Central America and Africa.

Now scientists and entrepreneurs are increasingly exploring its potential as a nutritious, sustainable food.

About 35 minutes from the capital city of Reykjavik, the Vaxa farm produces Nannochloropsis microorganisms, as human food, as well as fish and shrimp feed.

It also grows a type of bacteria called Arthospira, also known as blue-green algae, because they share similar properties with microalgae.

When dried, it is called spirulina and is used as a food additive, food additive, and as a bright blue dye.

These microorganisms carry out photosynthesis, which takes energy from light to take in carbon dioxide and produce oxygen.

“Algae are consuming CO2, or converting CO2 into biomass,” explains Mr. Haflidason. “It’s carbon negative.”

The Vaxa plant has a unique shape.

It is the only place where algae cultivation is combined with a geothermal power plant, which provides good electricity, supplies cold water for cultivation, hot water for heating, and even pipes through its CO2 emissions.

“You will have a little bit of bad breath,” says Asger Munch Smidt-Jensen, a food technology consultant at the Danish Technology Institute (DTI), who co-authored a study examining the environmental impact of Vaxa’s spirulina production.

“We also found a very low level, in terms of land and water use.”

Periodically renewable energy, including CO2 emissions, and low-carbon food, are necessary to ensure that the installation is climate-friendly, and it is thought that it cannot be easily matched.

“There’s a lot of energy to run these photo-bioreactors, and you have to mimic the sun, so you need a strong energy source,” he explains.

“My main conclusion is that we have to use these areas [like Iceland] where we have limited energy production capacity,” adds Mr Munch Smidt-Jensen.

Returning to the algae plant, I climb to the top, where I am surrounded by noisy units called photo-bioreactors, where thousands of tiny red and blue LED lights stimulate the growth of microalgae, instead of sunlight .

They are also given water and food.

“More than 90% of photosynthesis takes place within red and blue light,” Haflidason explains. “We’re just giving them the light they use.”

All content is dynamically controlled and optimized with machine learning, he adds.

About 7% of the plant is harvested each day, and quickly replaced with new growth.

Vaxa’s facility can produce 150 tons of algae per year, and plans to expand.

Since the seeds are rich in protein, carbohydrates, omega-3s, fatty acids, and vitamin B12, Mr. Haflidason believes that growing algae in this way can help to solve the problem of food insecurity around the world.

Many other companies are betting on the potential of microalgae – it is estimated that the market will be worth $25.4bn (£20.5bn) by 2033.

The Danish start-up Algiecel has been testing large-scale transmission modules equipped with photo-bioreactors, which can connect to emitting factories to capture their CO2, while producing food and feed.

The seeds are also used in cosmetics, medicine, biofuel and as a substitute for plastic.

It is possible that microalgae can be produced in the atmosphere.

In a project supported by the European Space Agency, the Danish Technological Institution plans to test whether microalgae can live. He grew up on the International Space Station.

Despite the high costs, there is still a way to go to keep microbes out of our diet.

It still needs a lot of development, according to Munch Smidt-Jensen.

He shows that appearance has no strength. At present the taste can be “fishy” like algae and different salt water.

“But there are solutions to this,” he adds.

There is also the question of people.

“Are people ready? How can we make everyone eat this?”

Malene Lihme Olsen, a food scientist at the University of Copenhagen who researches microalgae, says its nutritional value needs more research.

“Green microalgae [chlorella] having a very strong cell wall, so it is difficult for us to digest and get all the nutrients,” he says.

Currently it is said that microalgae are successfully added to other “packages” such as pasta or bread to improve taste, texture and appearance.

However, Ms Olsen believes that microalgae are the food of the future.

“If you compare one hectare of soybeans in Brazil, and imagine that we had a hectare of algae, you can produce 15 times more protein per year. [from the algae].”

Return to the plant and look at the unpleasant green mud. It is a harvested algae and pressed water, ready for further processing.

Mr. Haflidason gives me a taste and, after the first failure, I try and find his neutral taste that is like tofu.

“We don’t want anyone to eat green slime,” jokes Mr Haflidason.

Instead, processed algae is a daily food, and in Reykjavik one baker makes bread with Spirulina and a gym puts it in smoothies.

“We’re not going to change what you eat. We’re just going to change the foods you eat,” he says.