Sustainable approaches for algae utilisation in bioenergy production
Journal
Renewable Energy
Journal Volume
129
Pages
838-852
Date Issued
2018
Author(s)
Abstract
Rapidly increasing global energy consumption has caused depletion of fossil fuels, leading to the search of alternative energy resources. One of the potential solutions is utilizing algae biomass as the source of bioenergy. To fulfil the high biomass demands for biofuel production, it is of pivotal importance to develop feasible technologies to enable economic, efficient and high density cultivation of algae. Algae can be cultivated in either open or closed systems in the presence of nutrients and light intensity. The maximum yield, growth rate and composition of algae can be optimized according to cultivation conditions, such as temperature, pH, light intensity and nutrient concentration. The potential types of algae in contributing carbohydrate and lipids to produce biofuel such as biodiesel, bioethanol and bio-gas are reviewed. Economic feasibilities of algae based fuel production are discussed based on Life Cycle Analysis. Current challenges and future prospective are also presented to realize the use of algae as a feedstock for commercial and cost effective fuel production. ? 2017 Elsevier Ltd
Subjects
Algae
Algae-based biofuel
Biodiesel
Bioenergy
Sustainability
Other Subjects
Algae; Biodiesel; Bioethanol; Biomass; Cost effectiveness; Cultivation; Energy utilization; Fossil fuels; Nutrients; Sustainable development; Alternative energy resources; Bio-energy; Bioenergy productions; Biofuel production; Cultivation conditions; Economic feasibilities; Life cycle analysis; Nutrient concentrations; Life cycle; alga; alternative energy; bioenergy; biofuel; biomass; carbohydrate; concentration (composition); fossil fuel; fuel consumption; growth rate; light intensity; optimization; sustainability; algae
Type
journal article