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ICM-CSIC visits Universidad de Almería (UAL) facilities
On November the 24th, a team from the Institute of Marine Sciences (ICM-CSIC) in Barcelona (Spain) visited the facilities of University of Almería (UAL) in Almería (Spain), where the experimental facilities for microalgal cultivation are located.
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Two different raceway ponds, fed with wastewater and fertilizers (Fig. 2), have been sampled three times per week for the last 9 months. Samples are sent periodically to ICM-CSIC for specific chemical and molecular analyses. Researchers from both institutions discussed all the practicalities about the raceways design, functioning, algal community sampling and limitations inherent to the technology in order to optimize samplings and produce high quality datasets. The visit was very fruitful for both teams and PRODIGIO project will benefit from the exchange of knowledge from researchers with such diverse range of scientific backgrounds, from bioprocess engineering to theoretical ecology.
During the second day of the visit, a meeting was held to design the new experiments that will take place from January onwards.
The experiments will be carried out in bench-scale raceways where PH, light and temperature are strictly controlled and sampling can be done at a relatively high frequency.
Stepwise increases in temperature and acidity will be forced over time (simulating gradual warming and acidification) in two of the raceways while the others will be held unchanged. The experiments are intended to force and monitor the eventual collapse of the algal biomass production systems. The data generated will serve to understand the mechanisms underlying the failure of the systems and design early-warning signals to anticipate and mitigate these crashes.
More news about this project:
IMDEA Energy is coordinating two new projects on the theme of anaerobic digestion
RAVIOLIC & RESOPLA are projects in the frame of “Strategic projects oriented towards the digital and ecological transition”.
Microbial indicators of anaerobic digestion failure upon organic loading rates disturbances
IMDEA Energy has participated in IWA-Young Waters Professionals Conference (Valencia, Spain) to present a poster with the main results found in the first experiments performed within Prodigio project.
University of Almeria is a partner in a new horizon europe project about microalgae
The University of Almeria is now involved in the REALM project (H2020 EU 101060991) focused on the reuse of nutrients and water from drainage water from agriculture activities.