Gomez et al. (2026): Algae and cyanobacteria as agents for carbon dioxide removal: production of long-term carbon compounds
Eduardo Gorron Gomez, Kim J. Lee Chang, Matthew C. Taylor, Dion M.F. Frampton, IN: Carbon Capture Science & Technology, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ccst.2026.100610
Among the potential options for greenhouse gas reductions, carbon dioxide removal (CDR) mediated by photosynthetic algae and cyanobacteria (collectively termed “algae”) is worthy of consideration. These organisms have properties that enable alternative thinking to the canonical processes of biological carbon cycling and sequestration: they can be microscopic, unicellular, vegetative, transformable, capable of taking up and converting CO₂ and producing long-term carbon compounds. Algae are the primary producers of a variety of precursor and end-point compounds that can be classified as long-term and useful for permanent carbon capture, including inorganic carbonates and organic molecules such as dinosporin, RDOM, and algaenan, with algaenan perhaps being the foremost among these for CDR purposes. In this review, the authors explore algal-derived long-term carbon compounds with potential for CDR purposes. Considered to be a major contributor to type I kerogen via the process of selective preservation, algaenan is a complex polymer found in the cell walls of a limited number of algal species that has biosynthetic similarities to that of cutin and suberin in some higher plants. Studies concerning the structure and characterisation of algaenan and potential precursor compounds, including hydroxy fatty acids, long-chain alkenols, and long-chain alkyl diols, have had challenges related to the complexity of the chemistry involved, historical methodological inconsistencies, and misleading findings due to the generation of methodological artefacts, yet their algal origin is undeniable.