Biofuel Production from Algae Utilizing Wastewater

The growing concern surrounding the continued use of fossil fuels and rapid depletion of fossil fuel reserves, global climate change, rising crude oil price and environmental degradation have forced scientific community and researchers to find out alternative energy sources. The potential of microalgae as a source of renewable energy has received considerable interest. However, the overall current production and harvesting techniques of microalgal biomass and downstream processing of microalgae to produce biofuels and other bioproducts of value is still too expensive to ensure a competitive production price for biofuels from algae. If microalgal biofuel production is to be economically viable and sustainable, further optimization of mass culture and harvesting conditions and biofuel processing techniques are needed. However, the technologies required for large-scale cultivation, processing, and conversion of microalgal biomass to energy products are not yet a commercial reality. Wastewaters derived from municipal, domestic, agricultural and industrial activities can potentially provide cost-effective and sustainable means of algal growth for biofuels. However, currently there are no commercial algae-to-fuels technologies that can overcome techno-economic barriers and address serious sustainability concerns. Coupling microalgae cultivation with wastewater treatment is considered as one of the most promising routes to produce bio-energy and bio-based by-products in an economically viable and environmentally friendly way. This paper reviews current research on this topic (wastewater-based algae cultivation systems), major challenges to sustainable production and harvesting of algae, compare the benefits and limitations of the different approaches to algae production, research need and future direction for sustainable microalgal biofuel production.