Phyto-Algal Consortia as a Complementary System for Wastewater Treatment and Biorefinery

TL;DR

This paper explores using plant and algae systems to clean wastewater and produce renewable energy and products.

Contribution

The novelty is treating the plant-algae system as a unified unit and using biomass traits to optimize resource recovery.

Findings

Integrated plant-algae systems can remove diverse pollutants while generating usable biomass.

The system supports a circular bioeconomy by linking wastewater treatment with bioproduct and energy production.

Abstract

Pollution and freshwater scarcity, coupled with the energy sector’s continued dependence on fossil fuels, constitute a dual challenge to sustainable development. A promising response is biosystems that jointly address wastewater treatment and the production of renewable products. This review centers on a managed consortium of aquatic macrophytes and microalgae, in which the spatial architecture of plant communities, rhizosphere processes, and the photosynthetic activity of microalgae act in concert. This configuration simultaneously expands the spectrum of removable pollutants and yields biomass suitable for biorefinery, thereby linking remediation to the production of energy carriers and bioproducts within a circular bioeconomy. The scientific novelty lies in treating the integrated platform as a coherent technological unit, and in using the biomass “metabolic passport” to align cultivation conditions with optimal valorization trajectories. The work offers a practical framework for designing and scaling such consortia that can reduce the toxicological load on aquatic ecosystems, return macronutrients to circulation, and produce low-carbon energy carriers.

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