Microalgal hydrogen production: prospects of an essential technology for a clean and sustainable energy economy

Abstract

Modern energy production is required to undergo a dramatic transformation. It will have to replace fossil fuel use by a sustainable and clean energy economy while meeting the growing world energy needs. This review analyzes the current energy sector, available energy sources, and energy conversion technologies. Solar energy is the only energy source with the potential to fully replace fossil fuels, and hydrogen is a crucial energy carrier for ensuring energy availability across the globe. The importance of photosynthetic hydrogen production for a solar-powered hydrogen economy is highlighted and the development and potential of this technology are discussed. Much successful research for improved photosynthetic hydrogen production under laboratory conditions has been reported, and attempts are underway to develop upscale systems. We suggest that a process of integrating these achievements into one system to strive for efficient sustainable energy conversion is already justified. Pursuing this goal may lead to a mature technology for industrial deployment.

Dimeric and high-resolution structures of Chlamydomonas Photosystem I from a temperature-sensitive Photosystem II mutant

“…Despite its advantages, this method has seldom been exploited in the study of photosynthesis. Notwithstanding the last remark, negative selection has been used to isolate temperature-sensitive-photoautotrophic (TSP) mutants in C. reinhardtii 10 , 11 . Roughly, 12,000 mutagenised colonies that were grown from UV-exposed cells were screened, and unexpectedly, many TS mutants were identified.…”

Isolation of Industrial Important Bioactive Compounds from Microalgae

“…The first generation of biofuels comes from terrestrial crops (e.g., maize, sugarcane, sugar beet and rapeseed) which has many drawbacks/limitations causing destruction of forests and the abundant usage of water. The second generation is from forest residues, lignocellulosic agriculture and from non-food crop feedstocks which disadvantage is the land use [ 184 , 185 ]. Biofuels are the renewable energy sources produced from algal biomass which is the third generation of biofuels and is a promising alternative method to the previous methods.…”

Isolation of Industrial Important Bioactive Compounds From Microalgae: A Review

“…maize, sugarcane, sugar beet and rapeseed) which has many drawbacks/limitations causing destruction of forests and the abundant usage of water. The second generation is from forest residues, lignocellulosic agriculture and from non-food crop feedstocks which disadvantage is the land use [187,188]. Biofuels are the renewable energy sources produced from algal biomass which is the third generation of biofuels and is a promising alternative method to the previous methods.…”