streams?
Heterotrophic cultivation of algae has the advantages of being independent of a
light source and utilising conventional fermentation technologies in compact reactors,
which require less space than photobioreactors or ponds. The contained
systems allow the use of GMO species to increase product yields. Utilisation of
carbon containing waste streams in heterotrophic cultivations can also overcome
one of the main bottlenecks in algal cultivation, namely obtaining sufficiently high
biomass density to reduce de-watering problems.
Generally, high cell densities require hetero- (or mixo-) trophic growth, which
are dependent on the concentration of organic carbon provided.