‘It’s a new way to think about food production’—Growing algae on Iceland’s futuristic farm

Under a strange pink-purple glow, illuminated panels buzz and cylindrical columns of water bubble away as a futuristic crop of microalgae grows.

It’s here that Iceland’s Vaxa Technologies has developed a system that harnesses energy and other resources from the nearby power plant to cultivate these tiny aquatic organisms.

“It’s a new way of thinking about food production,” says general manager Kristinn Haflidason as he gives me a tour of the space-age facility.

About 35 minutes from the capital Reykjavik, the Vaxa site produces the microalgae Nannochloropsis, both as food for people, and for feed in fish and shrimp farming.

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“The algae is eating CO2, or turning the CO2 into biomass,” explains Mr Haflidason. “It’s carbon negative.”

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Vaxa’s plant has a unique situation.

It’s the only place where algae cultivation is integrated with a geothermal power station, which supplies clean electricity, delivers cold water for cultivation, hot water for heating, and even pipes across its CO2 emissions.

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