European perspectives on the feasibility of Genetically engineered algae and other biofuels

Since the current usage of fossil fuels leads to resource depletion and climate change, the creation of alternative paths for sustainable fuel production is an important task for politics, industry, and research. Although microalgae are a viable alternative, their low technology readiness level (TRL) prevents them from becoming economically competitive with fossil fuels. The demands of the world cannot be sustainably met by first- and second-generation biofuels. As a result, it is believed that third-generation biofuels made from microalgae will be essential for reaching long-term climate policy goals in the transportation industry. To increase productivity and lower the cost of harvesting items derived from or expelled by microalgae for fuel production, novel genetic engineering strategies are being researched. Algae fuels won't necessarily enter the market, despite their excellent resource efficiency and low cost. For technologies to be useful to society, they must be widely accepted.

To be useful to society, technologies must be accepted by the general population. Public adoption of microalgae fuel is less known in European countries despite the efforts in algae R&D and political promises at different levels to promote algal biofuels in transportation sectors. Genetically engineered (GE) microalgae might be contentious in Europe due to risk perception regardless of its benefits. As a result, the acceptability of GE microalgae for next-gen biofuel production seeks to be analysed in advance by European experts and stakeholders.

Regarding the need for energy and the emission of greenhouse gases, algal fuel production is not yet commercially viable or sustainable. The application of algal biofuel production for sustainable mobility is being hampered by technological, economic, and environmental barriers that are being tried to be removed through research and development. By boosting algae productivity and yields and enabling the release of fuels or fuel precursors into the growth media, new techniques for genetic engineering, such as genome editing, can help attain this goal.

Research on GE algae is only permitted in approved labs and pilot plants in the EU, and these facilities must take safety procedures to prevent any hazards that might later arise from the uncontrolled release of these GE algae into the environment. There is no data on how experts and stakeholders view GE algae because the process of making fuels with the algae is still not ready for execution. There is no opposition to the technology because there is no evidence to validate any potential worries as per our findings. This might be because there haven't been any media reports on it and not many people are aware of GE algae yet.
Currently, there have been no substantial unfavourable media stories or public attitudes reported about the manufacture of biofuels using GE algae. However, it is not anticipated that opposition would surface if large-scale algal fuel generation were put into practice because of the divisive discussion surrounding genome editing in plant breeding and microbes. Both Genome editing and genetic engineering in particular and in general respectively are likely to be the subject to the same factors of information processing and risk perception by media, the public, and other entities that have been found across several other emerging technologies because no method of genetic modification can guarantee of unintended consequences

Due to first-generation biofuels' dependence on food crops and negative effects on food security, land usage, and the environment as a whole, their use in Europe has been closely scrutinised. Additionally, larger ratios of fuels produced cannot be combined. However, a new class of fuels made from waste feedstocks offers a chance to hasten the transition to low-carbon transportation.

A large number of start-up enterprises and significant research and development are currently taking place in European nations. Academic researchers, a developing industrial sector, and other important stakeholders were brought together by the previously funded PHYCONET NIBB (which mostly focused on microalgae) to form a lively, coherent community of approximately 600 people. PHYCONET helped give this community a global voice and considerably increased the profile and interest of microalgae in the UK.
The new network, Algae-UK, will capitalise on this momentum by extending its purview to include macro algae and by giving cyanobacterial synthetic biology more attention. To achieve major step-changes and establish the UK as a global leader in algae biotechnology, it will act as the focal point for the UK's algal biosciences research community, companies engaged in the industry, and other stakeholders.
Bayer, a significant player in pharmaceutical and biotechnology, has upped its investment in CoverCress, a producer of low-carbon oilseeds, to assume a 65% controlling ownership. According to a shareholders agreement made by Bunge, an agricultural firm, and Chevron U.S.A., an oil corporation, the remaining 35% of CoverCress will remain with them.
With the help of the agreement, CoverCress will be able to turn its brand-name winter oilseed product into a cover crop that can supply lower-carbon fuel feedstock to the renewable fuel sector and give farmers an additional source of income during the growing season.
UK’s largest provider of hydrogenated vegetable oil, Green Biofuels Ltd (GBF) has acquired a 30% share in bp (HVO). GBF products are created by using renewable feedstocks (vegetable oils, animal oils, and fat). HVO Gd+ is a low-emission advanced HVO fuel that can replace diesel directly as a drop-in.
ExxonMobil has acquired a 49.9% stake in Biojet AS, a Norwegian biofuels startup that seeks to turn forestry and wood-based building waste into lower-emissions biofuels and biofuel components.