Cost-Effective Cultivation of Cyanobacteria for Biotechnological Applications

Cyanobacteria are photosynthetic organisms with extraordinary potential to be utilized for various biotechnological applications toward establishing a green and sustainable future. Despite enormous research efforts, the commercial-scale production of cyanobacteria and the economic sustainability of the upstream process are still under question. Devising cost-effective cultivation strategies offering higher biomass productivity with lower water and carbon footprints is critically important for the successful commercialization of cyanobacteria-based products. Different designs for algae photobioreactor (PBR) have evolved from the conventional open pond algae cultivation system. The first part of this chapter comprehensively covers the configuration of different cultivation systems and their comparison in terms of cost, energy, biomass productivity, and the utilization of wastewater as a low-cost cultivation media in addition to phycoremediation which provides a win-win opportunity to produce higher amounts of low-cost cyanobacterial biomass with concomitant treatment/recycling of wastewater. Additionally, different cost-effective cultivation systems, namely, biofilm-based cyanobacterial cultivation systems and heterotrophic cultivation systems, are also discussed. It is also important to investigate the impact of different biotic and abiotic factors on the growth and metabolite composition of cyanobacteria. In the second part of the chapter, various biotechnological applications of cyanobacterium biomass including biofuels, biofertilizers, nutraceuticals and pharmaceuticals, and bioplastics. Despite the extensive research efforts and applications, there is still a need to address challenges associated with the cost-effective, easier, and sustainable cultivation of cyanobacteria to achieve successful commercialization.