Algae Biomass as a Potential Source of Liquid Fuels

Abstract

Algae biomass is perceived as a prospective source of many types of biofuels, including biogas and biomethane produced in the anaerobic digestion process, ethanol from alcoholic fermentation, biodiesel synthesized from lipid reserve substances, and biohydrogen generated in photobiological transformations. Environmental and economic analyses as well as technological considerations indicate that methane fermentation integrated with bio-oil recovery is one of the most justified directions of energy use of microalgae biomass for energy purposes. A promising direction in the development of bioenergy systems based on the use of microalgae is their integration with waste and pollution neutralization technologies. The use of wastewater, another liquid waste, or flue gases can reduce the costs of biofuel production while having a measurable environmental effect.

Fermentation of micro- and macroalgae as a way to produce value-added products

“…Unfortunately, the majority of research has been done in laboratory settings, and rarely on a fractional-technical scale. This significantly limits the possibility of obtaining reliable data for a comprehensive assessment of technological, environmental, and economic efficiency of these technological solutions [16] . It is important to note that this area of research (obtaining useful compounds) is still new and more research is needed to understand the feasibility of using algal fermentation for food [15] .…”

“…Incorporating algal biomass into the production of biofuels and bioactive compounds (a variety of beneficial compounds such as polyphenols and polyunsaturated fatty acids) provides a sustainable way to mitigate blooms while producing value-added products [13] , [14] , [15] . Algae are considered a source of biogas and biomethane (which can be produced by anaerobic digestion or ethanol from alcoholic fermentation), biodiesel (synthesized from lipids during anaerobic digestion), and biohydrogen (produced by fermentation with anaerobic methanogens) [16] . For example, lactic acid fermentation of algae biomass allows the production of food products, including functional and dietary purposes [17] .…”

Optimization of Lipid Production by Schizochytrium limacinum Biomass Modified with Ethyl Methane Sulfonate and Grown on Waste Glycerol

“…One of the most promising avenues of biofuel research relates to using waste as a starting feedstock to produce liquid or gaseous energy carriers [ 4 , 5 ]. The global production of waste glycerol from the refinery industry is rising year after year [ 6 ].…”

Ultrasonic Disintegration to Improve Anaerobic Digestion of Microalgae with Hard Cell Walls—Scenedesmus sp. and Pinnularia sp.

“…Microalgae-to-heat processes span a very wide range of methods: from simple combustion, through more advanced thermochemical methods (such as gasification and pyrolysis), to biodiesel generation and biotechnological ethanol/methane/biohydrogen harvesting [ 11 ]. Numerous studies have argued that anaerobic digestion (AD) is the most promising method for producing energy from algae, both in terms of performance and cost-effectiveness [ 12 , 13 , 14 ]. Algae-to-methane processes have been shown to be cost-effective and comparable to cellular lipid extraction in terms of harvested energy (in the form of biodiesel) [ 15 ].…”