The World’s first "Green" Blue
Invention leads Market Lab researchers to start company.
9/1/20201 min read


There are currently no good options for blue colors for food and beverage. Artificial blue dyes are bad for your health. Production of phycocyanin, the most-used natural blue pigment is expensive and not sustainable. Now, Market Lab Researchers have learned how they can use cyanobacteria growing in alkaline soda lakes to produce phycocyanin more sustainably. They have invented the World’s first “green” blue. How it works? Cyanobacteria need sunlight and carbon dioxide to grow. Other producers feed their cyanobacteria with carbon dioxide from minerals and natural gas. Instead, cyanobacteria from alkaline soda lakes are able to take their carbon dioxide directly from the air. This not only avoids carbon dioxide emissions, but it is also cheaper! The researchers have started a company “Synergia Biotech” to commercialize their findings.
Contact
Get in touch for groundwater inquiries and support.
INQUIRIES
Connect
Department of Earth Energy and Environment
Faculty of Science | University of Calgary - EEEL510 | 2500 University Dr NW, Calgary, AB T2N 1N4
© 2025. All rights reserved.