SABANA demonstrated the reliability of large-scale integrated microalgae-based biorefineries for the production of biostimulants, biopesticides and feed additives, in addition to biofertilizers and aquafeed, using only marine water and nutrients from wastewaters (sewage, centrate and pig manure). The project concludes with the development of different zero-waste processes at a demonstration-scale, several hectares, sustainable both environmentally and economically. A Demonstration Centre (0.5 ha) of microalgae-based biorefineries has been set up and is operated to demonstrate the technologies, assess the operating characteristics of the systems, evaluate environmental impacts and collaborate with potential customers for their implementation and use. This centre is now part of the PILOT4U platform supported by the EU, and new EU projects are currently being developed on it. More relevant, one industrial facility up to 1.7 ha is in operation for the production of clean microalgae biomass for agriculture and aquaculture related applications in Almeria (Spain), whereas two other facilities of 3.0 and 2.0 ha are in operation in Mérida and Hellin (Spain), respectively, for wastewater treatment coupled to microalgae biomass production also for agriculture uses. The industrial facilities confirm the reliability of proposed technologies in addition to the economic, environmental and social benefits of implementing them. To notice that the industrial facility installed in Hellin is the first facility in the world performing the complete treatment of wastewater of this city using microalgae related technologies. In summary, the SABANA project complete some of the most relevant demonstrators of microalgae related processes around the world.
The key advantages of technologies and processes developed as part of the SABANA project are (i) the sustainability of the developed processes allowing to use of seawater or wastewater thus avoiding the utilization of usable freshwater, and recovering nutrients from sewage and manure, while minimizing energy consumption, and (ii) the socio-economic benefits, due to the relevance of the target bioproducts for two major pillars in food production as agriculture and aquaculture. Bioproducts capable of increasing the yield of crops and fish production are highly demanded, whereas recovery of nutrients is a priority issue in the EU. Instead of considering wastewater as an inevitably useless and problematic residue of our society, the SABANA project demonstrates its potential as an opportunity for economically relevant sectors. The SABANA project has addressed (i) the utilization of microalgae-bacteria consortia and in co-culture with other algae to control grazing species, (ii) the implementation of efficient thin-layer cascade and raceway, (iii) the scale-up of bioreactors to ensure stable operation, (iv) the use of marine water to increase the sustainability of the process; (v) the recovery of nutrients from wastewaters, (vi) the development of harvesting processes taking into account the remaining water, (vii) the establishment of processes for mild/energy efficient extraction of bioproducts, (viii) the processing of residual biomass to produce biofertilizers and aquafeed in zero-waste schemes, (ix) using robust and sustainable technology.
