Macroalgae for biofuels production: Progress and perspectives

Cultivation Strategy for Freshwater Macro- and Micro-Algae as Biomass Stock for Lipid Production

“…Total chlorophyll shows a similar pattern: the highest level was observed in the effluent/BBM mixed media, followed by the effluent only media and the tap water/BBM media, while the lowest is shown by the sample from the tap water only media. The results of this study are in line with several studies reported in the literature: mostly lipid content of micro-algae was higher than that of macro-algae [16], however the lipid content of some macro-algae species, unfortunately, have yet to be explored. The reason for selecting macro-algae in this study was that the biomass harvesting and post harvesting handling are easier than with micro-algae.…”

Prospects for Bioethanol Production from Macroalgae

“…The green algae can grow in all types of water environments. While red algae grow mainly in intertropical zones, and brown algae especially grow in tempered to cold or very cold waters [14]. Macroalgae can be mass-cultivated based on current farming technologies.…”

“…At present macroalgae are grown for food production, fertilizers, and hydrocolloid extraction in Asia (mainly in China, Korea, Philippines, and Japan) accounting for about 72% of global annual production [16]. The macroalgae productivity ranged from 150 to 600 t/hay fresh weight [14], and the total worldwide production attains 19 million tonnes dry matter in 2014 [17]. The amount of the mass-cultivated macroalgae is six orders of magnitude greater than that of lignocellulosic biomass [18].…”

“…Alginate accounts for up to 40% dry wt. as a principal material of the cell wall [14], and is composed of three different uronic acids: guluronic acid blocks, mannuronic acid blocks, and alternative blocks of mannuronic and guluronic units.…”

“…Another advantage of macroalgae is high content of carbohydrates (cellulose and hemicellulose) and the paucity of lignin resistant [53]. Although, the notion of macroalgae-based bioethanol production is environmentally better than the fossil fuels, but still suffer from low cost effectiveness and technological barriers [14]. The industrial-scale technologies for seaweed conversion still require significant basic research and development.…”