Xiaozao Technology has achieved a significant milestone this month as operations commence at our expanded microalgae production site. The new facility is dedicated to the commercial-scale algae culture of Nannochloropsis sp., a variety of green algae which serves as the foundation of the marine ecosystem and food chain and dates back billions of years. Xiaozao Technology cultivates microalgae utilizing seawater, sunlight, and repurposed and purified CO2 gas, and once harvested, the microalgae are processed into a variety of valuable products for both human dietary supplements and animal nutrition. The company’s microalgae are a rich source of the fatty acid eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), the primary omega-3 fatty acid found in fish oil, and represent a new vegetarian source of this essential nutrient. A byproduct of the EPA production is a defatted algae powder offering greater than 60% protein by weight. This represents a novel source of plant protein and is directed to aquaculture and terrestrial animal feed. In the near future, we envision higher uses of our algal biomass and its rich contents to include pharmaceutical and dermatological applications.
Growing Green by Design
Xiaozao Technology is a new biotechnology company headquartered in Shenzhen with all commercial operations located in Guangxi Province in southwest China on the South China Sea. The company has brought significant investment into the rural region of Fangchenggang near the Vietnam border where we are providing education, training, and valuable employment. The CO2gas our microalgae require as their carbon source is derived from flue gas from the regional power station, which is then purified, concentrated, and infused into our ponds, whereas it would otherwise have been released to the atmosphere. Drawing energy from sunlight the algae incorporate carbon from the CO2 and release pure oxygen into the environment. Every metric ton of our algae consume 1.8 metric tons of this greenhouse gas. At full scale, our operation will be carbon neutral.
Our new facility will open in phases and begins with 141 aquaculture ponds of various sizes providing 455,500 square meters of surface area covering 40% of the final build-out. Adjacent to the new algae farm stands our recently finished 2,900 square meter Research and Process Development center and 1,370 square meter algal harvesting facility. Operations at our commercial algae extraction facility located several kilometers away will commence by year-end.
Industrial contamination and overfishing of our oceans have brought substantial pressure on many species of fish and pushed many more perilously close to collapse. To better serve the need for plant-based alternatives to fish as a source of protein and nutrients, Xiaozao Technology directly produces algae and harvests these products without the use of fish, while reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
