User: GC Lipid Tech, Agropur Cooperative
The valorization of dairy industry by-products is a major issue in Québec and around the world. Indeed, increasing volumes of by-products are generated by the production of cheese, milk protein concentrate, and whey, while international animal feed markets—the traditional consumers of these by-products—are becoming increasingly saturated. Furthermore, the practice of drying and exporting these by-products is increasingly being questioned from a sustainable development perspective. A new bioprocess developed at the Centre de Recherche sur les Biotechnologies Marines makes it possible to efficiently convert these dairy by-products into plant biomass using microalgae. This bioprocess thus enables the conversion of sugars into oils and plant proteins for value-added markets. Given the undeniable environmental benefits of such a bioprocess, this project aims to use expertise in microalgae genetic engineering to improve the efficiency and techno-economic performance of the bioprocess developed at CRBM, with the goal of achieving its economic profitability.