Influential national recognition highlights Australian microalgae innovation designed to bring together agricultural productivity, sustainable food supply and climate solutions
Australian microalgae company Genesis has won the Agriculture & Environment category at The Australian Financial Review Sustainability Leaders 2026 Awards.
The award recognises Genesis’ work developing practical microalgae-based solutions that can improve agricultural productivity while addressing emissions. It also marks an important milestone in the company’s ambition to turn Australian-grown microalgae into scalable solutions for a more productive and sustainable food and agricultural system.
Making sustainability work for agriculture
Agriculture is facing mounting pressure to reduce its environmental footprint, but new technologies will only achieve meaningful scale if they also work within the economics of farming. Genesis develops microalgae applications designed to bring productivity, affordability and emissions reduction together. At the core of its works is Chlorella grown in Australia’s Great Barrier Reef Region, using a comparatively low-energy cultivation process.
By keeping the algae in its wet form rather than drying it, Genesis has developed an agricultural supplement with a target cost of around 20 cents per animal per day, compared with approximately $2 for some dried alternatives. Trials conducted with Queensland cattle producers have reported faster growth and earlier achievement of production weight. By shortening the production cycle, the approach has the potential to reduce the period over which cattle generate methane while improving production efficiency and farm economics.
Genesis is also developing microalgae-based applications intended to improve crop productivity while delivering positive environmental outcomes.
From Australian-grown algae to global climate solutions
Genesis’s field research began in Australia and continues with research institutions and universities in Australia and internationally. Its work now extends from livestock performance,crop productivity, carbon capture and utilisation, and agricultural methane-reduction applications.
The company has also participated in international climate initiatives, including signature projects announced in United Nations COP29, and cooperation frameworks exploring climate finance, carbon capture, utilisation and storage, and methane-reduction technologies. Genesis CEO Eric Chen said the recognition came at an important point in the company’s growth.
“We now have an opportunity to take this Australian technology into more products and markets, while strengthening our R&D capabilities and exploring how microalgae can help address pressing climate challenges,” Chen said.
Genesis co-founder Colin McGregor said commercial value had always guided the company’s agricultural work.
“Farmers shouldn’t have to choose between reducing their environmental impact and running a profitable business,” McGregor said.
“If a solution is affordable, improves animal performance and delivers a clear return, it has a much better chance of being adopted at the scale needed to make a real difference.”
The AFR Sustainability Leaders list recognises Australian companies addressing environmental challenges while creating commercial value.
About Genesis
Genesis is an Australian microalgae technology company focused on microalgae-based solutions for human health, sustainable agriculture and food supply, animal nutrition and environmental applications. With large-scale cultivation operations in Australia’s Great Barrier Reef Region, Genesis grows Australian Chlorella and works through research, field trials and partnerships to develop practical applications for a more productive, resilient and sustainable agricultural future.
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