Fig. 1

The Red Sea is a rich and untapped ecosystem for bio-based production of high-value chemicals. Microalgae and/or cyanobacteria that can grow in the saline and high sun-intensive environment can be used for generation of biomass to be used for microbial fermentation. These can be grown in farms at the shore right next to biorefineries. It may be possible to extract some high-value chemicals directly from the microalgae, with the remainder of the biomass being used for microbial fermentation. In order to reduce cost, the biomass should not be extracted from isolated saline water, but it should be hydrolyzed in suspension. This will require isolation of novel, salt-tolerant enzymes, e.g., to be produced by Bacillus species isolated from the Red Sea. Hydrolyzed biomass, suspended in saline water, will be used for microbial fermentation to produce high value chemicals. Cell factories for these processes will also be isolated from the Red Sea. Running the fermentation process with saline water will reduce (1) the risk of contamination, which will reduce costs for sterilization, and (2) the cost incurred from energy consumption for saline water desalination