Integration of biology, ecology and engineering for sustainable algal-based biofuel and bioproduct biorefinery

Abstract

Despite years of concerted research efforts, an industrial-scale technology has yet to emerge for production and conversion of algal biomass into biofuels and bioproducts. The objective of this review is to explore the ways of possible integration of biology, ecology and engineering for sustainable large algal cultivation and biofuel production systems. Beside the costs of nutrients, such as nitrogen and phosphorous, and fresh water, upstream technologies which are not ready for commercialization both impede economic feasibility and conflict with the ecological benefits in the sector. Focusing mainly on the engineering side of chemical conversion of algae to biodiesel has also become obstacle. However, to reduce the costs, one potential strategy has been progressing steadily to synergistically link algal aquaculture to the governmentally mandated reduction of nitrogen and phosphorous concentrations in municipal wastewater. Recent research also supports the suppositions of scalability and cost reduction. Noticeably, less is known of the economic impact of conversion of the whole algae-based biorefinery sector with additional biochemical and thermochemical processes and integration with ecological constraints. This review finds that a biorefinery approach with integrated biology, ecology, and engineering could lead to a feasible algal-based technology for variety of biofuels and bioproducts. which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.

Exploration of IAA Producing Bacteria And Amylolitic Bacteria From Several East Java Lakes, and Their Potency For Microbial Consortium To Accelerate Chlorella Vulgaris Growth

“…Yustinadiar et al, 2020), temperatures (Chakraborty et al, 2016), and optimal nutrients used in the medium (Chandra et al, 2019). In the future, this microbial consortium combined with optimal bioreactor could be considered for the new method for culturing microalgae on the industrial scale that has the potency for biodiesel at a low cost and environment friendly (Allen et al, 2018).…”

Anaerobic digestion of microalgal biomass for bioenergy production, removal of nutrients and microcystin: current status

“…Microalgae are appropriate renewable substrates for the AD to make CH 4 rich biogas and fertilizer. The integration and combination of AD with the microalgae-based system can achieve advanced competence and enhance biofuel production sustainability (Allen et al 2018). Anaerobic digestion of microalgal has been extensively studied (Passos et al 2015a; Koc ßer and € Ozc ßimen 2018; Wirth et al 2018;Zabed et al 2019b;Choudhary et al 2020).…”

“…The integration and combination of AD with the microalgae‐based system can achieve advanced competence and enhance biofuel production sustainability (Allen et al . 2018). Anaerobic digestion of microalgal has been extensively studied (Passos et al .…”

Modeling water‐energy tradeoffs for cultivating algae for biofuels in a semi‐arid region with fresh and brackish water supplies

“…The use of liquid streams other than freshwater have also been proposed, including municipal wastewater, brackish groundwater, and sea water 2,11,12,17 . Municipal wastewater has the advantage of containing nutrients that would otherwise have to be added to the cultivation system, but several biological, chemical, and logistical challenges currently limit the feasibility of this practice 18 . Higher salinities can limit the growth of freshwater algae, but algae species with tolerances for salinities typical of brackish groundwater (500 to 35 000 mg/L as total dissolved solids, TDS), seawater (35 000 mg/L TDS), or brines (> 35 000 mg/L TDS) have been considered for commercial algae production 2,12,15,16 …”