What connects the real colour of a lobster, the shade of a wild salmon, a supplement athletes like to take to promote recovery from exercise, and possible ways to relieve UV-related skin stress—and the smoke coming out of your manufacturing facility?
The answer is a fascinating little molecule with a big name–astaxanthin, which sits at the intersection of not just biology, chemistry, and nutrition, but also the fast-emerging new industry of CCU, Carbon Capture and Utilisation.
Specifically, CCU teams are looking at transforming the CO₂ belching uselessly out of industrial facilities into growing, harvesting, and exploiting this molecule for a range of commercial applications, from great new dietary compounds to fighting sunburn. Even better, this is something not just happening today, but a profit centre for a growing band of organisations we’re working with.
Astaxanthin: a structurally different proposition for the CCU market?
To orient us, a quick biology lesson is probably needed first. Astaxanthin is a natural red-orange pigment belonging to the carotenoid family, the same broad family as beta-carotene and lutein. It’s what gives wild salmon its characteristic pink colour and the darker blue-green or brownish colour of a pre-cooked lobster.
Importantly for our discussion, the substance is produced by certain microalgae, especially a unicelled type called Haematococcus pluvialis, and then accumulates in the salmon, krill, shrimp, and shellfish that eat it.
That’s great for that sea life; as we’ve hinted, as when the algae are exposed to harsh conditions like too intense sunlight, drought, or nutrient stress, they make large amounts of the stuff as a protective mechanism–hence the sunscreen remark, as it defends its host’s cells against oxidative damage caused by sunlight and reactive molecules.
That power is also something we humans can benefit from, too. Astaxanthin-containing supplements are marketed for exercise recovery, endurance, and reducing muscle fatigue, though strictly speaking it is not a proven performance enhancer like training, sleep, or proper nutrition.
Beyond that, though, due to its proven antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity, it’s also now being looked at for use cases like promoting skin elasticity, helping curb UV-related skin stress, and easing eye fatigue.
As it stands, the global astaxanthin market is valued at around $2 billion right now, but is forecasted to expand significantly, reaching between $3.8 billion and $6.9 billion over the next decade at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of roughly 9% to 15%. OK, but how does this connect back to flue gas emissions?
As stated, it’s a great way to monetise CO₂ across diverse markets, from high-performance nutraceuticals to specialised dermatological protection. Today, most CCU pathways struggle because they convert CO₂ into low-value bulk outputs (fuels, aggregates, minerals).
But because it’s already a high-value speciality carotenoid used in aquaculture feed, nutraceuticals, and cosmetics, astaxanthin creates a structurally different proposition for CCU operators.
That’s because their carbon dioxide emissions can be converted into a premium biochemical where revenue is driven by kg- not metric tonne value—and your ESG compliance and attractive commercial upside are potentially aligned.
Indeed, the stuff is widely recognised as one of the highest-value microalgae-derived products on the market, with natural sources commanding premium pricing versus synthetic alternatives.
A multi-billion-dollar downstream CCU market
The good news is proven CCU ecosystem players like Remediiate can work with you to cultivate and harvest Haematococcus pluvialis so as to get your CO₂ fixed into biomass under nutrient-rich conditions (this is actually a two-stage, red-green process, but more details can easily be found in the literature here and here).
What’s important to note is that the natural astaxanthin supply is limited and costly to produce, highly energy-intensive and dependent on controlled photobioreactors or hybrid systems.
But in a CCU context, as microalgae (not plants) are the primary natural source, CO₂ supply integration can reduce input costs and improve sustainability profile, while being sited near emitters (cement, power, fermentation sites, etc) improves logistics.
As ever, the devil is in the detail, and there’s a lot still to work out; as it stands, for example, capex and operational costs can seem high, and process efficiency (yield per litre, extraction efficiency) is decisive (hint: we can help).
But for CCU planners, the bottom-line message here must therefore be to see the opportunity to leap from necessary but one-way carbon disposal to monetisation of that carbon via proven biochemical pathways via specialty biochemical manufacturing using CO₂ as a feedstock.
Intrigued? Hope so. To find out more, all you have to do is send us an email, and we can start getting you a part of this multi-billion downstream CCU market.