Algae, a third generation Biofuel feedstock, present one of the most attractive renewable fuel opportunities. Algae’s potential arises from their high biomass yields, ability to grow in a range of environments, and their effectiveness as a bioremediation agent for CO2 sequestration and waste water treatment. Studies suggest that algae are the only bio-feedstock that has the potential to completely replace world’s fossil transportation fuels. Consequently, there is a growing interest in using algae as a source of fuel.
Obtaining biodiesel from Microalgae is the most commonly used route to produce fuel from algae. However, it has not yet been shown on a large scale that microalgae can be economically and reliably transformed into fuel. The main reasons that currently inhibit sustainable, large-scale biofuel production from microalgae are the high costs of cultivation and harvesting. Our studies suggest that using macroalgae as a feedstock, and using thermochemical processes to obtain liquid fuels could overcome the problems present in the microalgae-to-biodiesel process, thereby providing us with a highly scalable system of biofuel production at competitive costs.
Keywords: Macroalgae, Thermochemical process, Biofuel, Biodiesel Microalgae
