About Us

Science

We turn sunlight into seafood by replicating aquatic ecosystems.

Algae – microscopic plants have been the basis of food chains for over a billion years. They convert CO2 and sunlight into sugars, amino and fatty acids and make them available for zooplankton and fish. This usually happens on a large scale in oceans and lakes. We are replicating this process on land.

Discover how we do that.

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Our mission is to protect natural resources and marine ecosystems

Meet our Founders

Paul Schmitzberger

Chief Executive Officer

Paul is an engineer and economist, holding a BSc from WU Vienna, a Masters Degree in economics from the University of Hong Kong and a MSc in engineering. With a focus on renewable energy systems and as a hobby biologist he started experimenting with small aquaponics systems on his balcony while working on energy- and innovation strategies as lobbyist in Brussels. As CEO, Paul is responsible for coordinating the technical, legal and business aspects while also focusing on energy- and grid design.

Georg Schmitzberger

Chief Operations Officer

Georg started his academic career as architect before switching to civil engineering. In his master thesis he explored ways to use parametric design to optimize the photon harvesting efficiency in Photo-Bioreactors. While studying Georg was more focused on getting his hands dirty on live construction sites where he discovered his affinity to blue collar jobs. He now is in charge of turning steel, glass and tubing into a CLPPR-System that will withstand anything from earthquakes to sandstorms.

Cécile Deterre

Chief Technology Officer

Cécile is a particle physicist and data scientist who worked on particle collider experiments in the US and at CERN for eight years. She has a PhD in experimental particle physics, and MSc in engineering and physics. After looking closely at quarks, she is now focussing on fish and zooplankton, and is building a model of the ecosystem that is being developed.

Tlačítko

Tlačítko

Tlačítko

Mission

According to UN population projections, the world population will increase by more than 3 billion in the next 50 years, reaching 9.8 billion in 2050 and 11.2 billion in 2100. As a result, the current amount of calories consumed daily will rise from 21 billion in 2017 to 38 billion in 2067. A figure hidden in this number is the share of animal protein consumed that will grow at a much faster pace as the global economy will close the gap between rich and poor countries.

This development will push traditional agriculture, aquaculture and global fisheries to their limits. As of today, as much as 85% of the world's fisheries may be overexploited, depleted or fully exploited. The long-term goal of Blue Planet Ecosystems is to contribute to a reliable supply of protein to humanity without endangering Earth’s biodiversity.

We want to enable farming in regions where agriculture is not feasible and where biodiversity is already low or threatened by simultaneously creating climate positive jobs.

Our Partners

Awards