Qatar is one of the best places in the world to grow algae, Algal Technologies Programme (ATP) manager Dr Hareb Mohamed al-Jabri told Gulf Times.
Under Qatar University’s (QU) Centre for Sustainable Development, ATP is a research group working to develop technologies from algae that will help diversify Qatar’s economy.
“The team found out that algae can be sources of biomass that can be converted later on into biofuel,” Dr al-Jabri noted. “It requires light, sea water, non-arable lands and carbon dioxide (CO2), all the elements which help produce biomass, which is in excess in Qatar.”
He said that the country is also home to around 200 specialised algae strains, which can be found in various locations such as Zubarah, Thakhira, Al Khawar, The Pearl-Qatar, Fardat Al Samak, Mesaieed, Abu Samra and Dukhan.
According to Dr al-Jabri, their studies also showed that some strains have unique ability and capacity, which are different from others.
“We found some strains have high protein content so we concluded to use these as feeds.”
The ATP team also found another strain of algae that can capture high amount of CO2 and remove pollutants from the water.
Like ordinary plants, algae also use sunlight, water and CO2 to grow and undergo photosynthesis. In Qatar, the programme uses sea water due to the high cost of tapping fresh water.
Algae can be easily grown on non-agricultural lands, which is also abundant in the country. While Qatar’s climate is highly suitable for algae production, he stressed that too much exposure to sunlight is not good for its cultivation.
ATP is focusing on four sectors: food security, renewable energy, environment and bio-remediation, as well as health and nutrition.
“Some strains have high amount of omega-3 or beta carotene so we classify them based on their ability to different applications,” Dr al-Jabri said.
“We built the biobank, we did all the screenings, we classify them and we start investigation in each application. So far we have 17 topics to investigate in different sectors for different applications,” he added.
Done with research and development, ATP is now on the demonstration phase (second stage) which will take around five years before implementing the pre-commercial and commercial phases.
At this stage, Qatar’s algae production may need 100 hectares of land. But the team has to determine the best place to put up and operate the commercial plant.