Diatom Biorefinery: Comprehensive Resource Utilization and Economic Feasibility for Sustainable Development

Driven by global resource shortages and carbon neutrality strategies, diatom biorefinery technology has emerged as a key solution to reduce production costs and promote a green economy, thanks to its unique potential for comprehensive resource utilization. Diatoms are rich in high-value substances such as polyunsaturated fatty acids, fucoxanthin, polysaccharides, and phenolic compounds, and their siliceous cell walls hold significant application potential across various industries. However, their industrialization has long been hindered by high production costs, with single-component production models leading to low return on investment—a core bottleneck restricting their development. This review analyzes diatom biorefinery technologies and processes, including co-extraction, sequential extraction, and hierarchical utilization of whole biomass, which significantly enhance resource utilization efficiency and economic benefits. Economic feasibility analyses show that co-producing multiple bioactive substances effectively shares costs, increases profits, and reduces waste treatment expenses, demonstrating promising market prospects. Despite challenges such as upstream process regulation where environmental factors may exert multiple effects on metabolite production, and downstream green chemistry transformation, combining co-production of high-value products with technological innovation can effectively lower costs, achieve efficient resource utilization, and foster sustainable development. Diatom biorefinery processes are poised to achieve larger-scale commercialization, offering new approaches to address global challenges in energy, the environment, and human health.