Recent advances in CO2 fixation by microalgae and its potential contribution to carbon neutrality

Carbon Footprint Reduction and Climate Change Mitigation: A Review of the Approaches, Technologies, and Implementation Challenges

“…The biotechnologies based on the use of the photosynthetic activity of microalgae and cyanobacteria have received widespread development in solving applied problems related to CO 2 capture and its recycling [134,180,181]. Historically, microalgae have been widely used as an alternative source of raw materials for the production of renewable green energy, so CO 2 sequestration by these means was initially established as one of the potential directions for sustainable energy development research in many countries around the world [182,183].…”

“…The efficiency of microalgae at assimilating CO 2 using solar energy is 10-50 times higher than that of terrestrial plants [186,187]. In terms of CO 2 , 1.0 kg of algae biomass may assimilate ~1.83 kg of CO 2 , which makes it possible to rear microalgae near thermal power plants or any other sources of greenhouse gases [181,182,188]. Currently, microalgae are actively used to obtain a wide range of biologically active components, such as proteins (including the production of amino acids), fats (including polyunsaturated fatty acids), carbohydrates (including starch and fiber), carotenoids, pigments, vitamins, and biologically active forms of major and trace elements [189][190][191].…”

“…The main problem associated with the use of biological CO 2 sequestration is the high temperatures of the flue gases and the presence of CO, NO x , SO x , and certain amounts of other impurities in the fossil fuel used [10,181]. The process of CO 2 sequestration requires detailed knowledge of the component composition of flue gases and cell biology.…”

“…Despite the promise of using biological methods of CO 2 sequestration that use microalgae, there are still a large number of unresolved issues associated with them: as a rule, they concern assessing the economic profitability of the technological chains [181,183]. Currently, active work is underway, the main result of which is the development of a set of biotechnological approaches associated with the sequestration of CO 2 by microalgae and the production of biologically active components with a high added value [10].…”

Flue gas waste heat affects algal liquid temperature for microalgal production in column photobioreactors

“…The CO 2 , NO x , and SO 2 removal rates were 50%, 80%, and 93%, respectively, yielding 0.792 g/L of microalgal oil and grease, which confirms the potential of utilizing microalgae to reduce flue gas pollution and produce biomass for biodiesel. Singh et al 10 and Xu et al 11 concluded that high temperature affects the affinity of ribulose for CO 2 ; therefore, a cooling pretreatment is needed at the flue gas outlet to prevent thermal damage to the microalgae.…”