Microbial community‐assisted water quality control and nutrients recovery: emerging technologies for the sustainable development of aquaponics

Abstract

Aquaponics is considered as a possible method to produce aquatic animals and plants in an environmentally-friendly way, but its commercialization is seriously hindered owing to some technical and economic problems. Recently, the integration of microbial community with aquaponics is on the way to becoming the next-generation technology for the sustainable development and commercialization of the aquaponics industry. This article provides an authoritative discussion on the novel microbial community-assisted aquaponics, which will be emerging from the research environment to industrial application in the coming future. Principles and key technologies of this novel aquaponics, as well as the potential challenges to its commercialization, are discussed. It is expected that the emerging technologies discussed in this work could address the existed technical problems and further promote the commercialization of aquaponics.

Microalgae biotechnology as an attempt for bioregenerative life support systems: problems and prospects

“…Light‐emitting diode (LED) technology, which provides microalgae with the light with special spectrum, emerges into the limelight as a possible way to reduce the energy consumption of microalgae cultivation . In recent years, studies intensively explored the effects of LED light on microalgae growth and the synthesis of specific compositions, demonstrating the advantages of applying LED technology for microalgae cultivation . In addition, researchers achieved great progress in the improvement of LED technology.…”

“…As a group of unicellular microbes performing mixotrophic growth, microalgae can grow well in wastewater rich in organics. Assimilation and intracellular metabolisms of nitrogen, carbon and phosphorus by microalgal cells have been fully documented . (i) Inorganic nitrogen forms in the astronauts‐generated wastes mainly include ammonium, nitrate and nitrite.…”

“…In the permanent space station, biomass rich in lipid, protein, and pigment can be exploited to produce biofuel, bio‐fertilizer, and chemical products, respectively, supporting the sustainable operation of the space station. In addition to the laboratory research, pilot‐scale experiments that grow microalgae for waste stream treatment were intensively conducted in the United States, China, and European countries . However, not all the pilot‐scale experiments were perfect since the low removal efficiency of nutrients occurred in microalgae‐based wastewater treatment in some cases .…”

“…Unfortunately, until now, no studies have been conducted to evaluate the edibility of microalgae‐food produced in a spacecraft. Secondly, the percentages of protein, fat, and carbohydrates in the biomass of most microalgae are around 30–70%, 15–40%, and 10–30%, respectively, which could not provide sufficient carbohydrates, however, humans have a high demand on the nutrients of carbohydrates . Thus, astronauts may have health‐related diseases if microalgae became a regular major food source.…”

“…Recently, as major powers, such as the United States, China, European Union, and Russia, in aerospace exploration proposed ambitious plans of long‐duration manned space exploration mission, such as a permanently inhabited space station on the Moon or Mars, BLSS is emerging into the limelight owing to its important roles in space mission . Microalgae, which have much higher efficiency in air revitalization, food ingredients production, and waste treatment than normal plants, are conceived and intensively studied as a promising technology to improve the practical feasibility of BLSS . First, microalgae‐culture system, which has higher photosynthesis rate and land utilization efficiency than normal plants, can support the life of more astronauts in a spacecraft with limited volume.…”