The global demand for biomass for food, feed, biofuels, and chemical production is expected to increase in the coming decades. Microalgae are a promising new source of biomass that may complement agricultural crops. Production of microalgae has so far been limited to high-value applications. In order to realize large-scale production of microalgae biomass for low-value applications, new low-cost technologies are needed to produce and process microalgae. A major challenge lies in the harvesting of the microalgae, which requires the separation of a low amount of biomass consisting of small individual cells from a large volume of culture medium. Flocculation is seen as a promising low-cost harvesting method. Here, we overview the challenges and possible solutions for flocculating microalgae. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.