| Summary: | In this study, <i>Scenedesmus almeriensis</i> as green microalga was cultivated on bench-scale for carbon dioxide (CO<sub>2</sub>) capture and lutein production. The autotrophic cultivation of <i>S. almeriensis</i> was carried out by using a vertical bubble column photo-bioreactor (VBC-PBR) with a continuous flow of a gaseous mixture of oxygen (O<sub>2</sub>), nitrogen (N<sub>2</sub>), and CO<sub>2</sub>, the latter in content of 0.0–3.0 %v/v. The liquid phase was batch. <i>S. almeriensis</i> growth was optimized. In addition, lutein extraction was carried out by using accelerated solvent extraction with ethanol as Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) solvent at 67 °C and 10 MPa. Upon optimization of CO<sub>2</sub> concentration, the maximum biomass productivity, equal to 129.24 mg·L<sup>−1</sup>·d<sup>−1</sup>, was achieved during the cultivation by using a content of CO<sub>2</sub> equal to 3.0 %v/v and it allowed to obtain a lutein content of 8.54 mg·g<sup>−1</sup>, which was 5.6-fold higher in comparison to the analogous process carried out without CO<sub>2</sub> addition. The ion chemical analysis in the growth medium showed that by gradually increasing CO<sub>2</sub> content, the nutrient consumption during the growth phase also increased. This study may be of potential interest for lutein extraction at industrial scale, since it is focused on pigment production from a natural source with a concomitantly CO<sub>2</sub> capture.
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