Dual Role of Microalgae in Wastewater Treatment and Biodiesel Production

Abstract

Increasing consumption of fossil fuels led to energy depletion and extensive greenhouse gas emission to the atmosphere. In order to reduce the impacts of global climate change and avoid further energy crisis, research is focusing to develop new renewable energy resources like biofuels. Microalgal biomass for biofuel production has a great potential to replace the conventional fossil fuels. Microalgae have splendid qualities for acting as feedstock for biodiesel production such as rapid growth rates, higher lipid content, cost-effective cultivation in wastewater, and no arable land requirements. To decrease the cost of production, microalgal biomass production was effectively integrated with the use of various wastewaters for growth. In any case, the most disadvantage of microalgal biomass production is that because of its unicellular structure and aquatic suspension nature which makes it difficult to collect. In large scale, lipid extractions are also bit hectic and are at initial stages. Wastewaters are ordinarily bioremediated with microalgae that can debase destructive wastes, create oxygen, and gather biomass. Such an approach had related to restrictions, since of innovative challenges in transformation of the collected biomass. In any case, the advances of algal biomass transformation into biofuels are presently quickly creating. The transformation of biomass into biofuel sounds financially and ecologically profitable, since such fuel is completely renewable.