A circular economy is presented as a system of resource utilization where reduction, reuse and recycling of elements prevails. Furthermore, production is limited to a bare minimum and when it's necessary to use the product, attempt to reuse elements that cannot return to the environment. The potential of using algae to remediate waste, including nutrients, metal, carbon dioxide and organic pollutants, has been recognized for many decades.

Prof. Jo-Shu Chang has a wide collection of microalgae and is the world-leading expert in microalgal research, currently ranking #1 in the world for publications in the area of both “microalgae” and “microalgal biofuels” (according to Web of Science). He and Dr. Chun-Yen Chen are founders of National Cheng Kung University (NCKU)’s “Center for Microalgae Biotechnology and Engineering.” The NCKU’s microalgae team has state-of-the-art technology for production of microalgae-based biofuels and chemicals, as well as flue gas CO2 reduction and utilization. The team has developed innovative and effective photobioreactor technology to convert CO2 into feed, health food and fuels via integration of microalgae isolation, cultivation system design and harvesting techniques for downstream technology. Furthermore, they also established core technologies for microalgae-based wastewater treatment and application of specific microalgae as a feed supplement for grouper and shrimp. The NCKU microalgae team has also constructed a commercial-scale microalgae cultivation & biorefinery plant located at NCKU’s An-Nan Campus. Prof. Chang is the leading PI of the national energy project of Taiwan, working on microalgae-based biofuels production and CO2 re-utilization from 2009-2018. Prof. Chang and his team also developed Asia’s first pilot demonstration system for direct use of flue-gas from a steel-making factory to cultivate microalgae. He has established platform technologies for re-utilization of CO2 via a phototrophic microalgal carbon capture systems, as well as a microalgae-driven circular economy. Associate Prof. I-Son Grace Ng is devoted to synthetic biology, genetic and enzymatic engineering as applied in bioenergy and biorefinery. She has been working with several top researchers in the areas of biofuel, biorefinery and bioremediation to develop a robust and efficient approach using genetic and proteomic techniques to explore novel and functional enzymes of microorganisms. Furthermore, she developed protocols to apply CRISPR/Cas9 techniques on green algae, creating novel opportunitie.