Abstract:
Increasing energy demands, predicted fossil fuels shortage in the near future, and
environmental concerns such as the production of greenhouse gases have forced the
scientists to find alternative and cleaner energy sources. Microalgae based biofuels have
received much attention in recent years as potential alternatives because they are green in
nature, renewable and sustainable energy sources. Microalgae have many advantages over
conventional biofuel feedstocks like high growth rate, ability to fix more CO2 and higher
photosynthetic efficiency. Furthermore, microalgae can grow in both fresh water and
saline water. Microalgae can accumulate up to 70% lipids of dry biomass under adverse
conditions. Despite these advantages, there are many challenges to scale-up microalgae
biofuel production. Literature reveals that significant work had been carried out to enhance
microalgae biomass production and lipid production at lab scale. Very few studies are
available to scale up microalgae culture system for biodiesel production.
