Abstract Biofuels are the promising alternative to exhaustible, environmentally unsafe fossil fuels. Algal biomass is attractive raw for biofuel production. Its cultivation does not compete for cropland with agricultural growing of food crop for biofuel and does not require complex treatment methods in comparison with lignocellulose-enriched biomass. Many microalgae are mixotrophs, so they can be used as energy source and as sewage purifier simultaneously. One of the main steps for algal biofuel fabrication is the cultivation of biomass. Photobioreactors and open-air systems are used for this purpose. The formers allow the careful cultivation control, but the latter ones are cheaper and simpler. Biomass conversion processes may be divided to the thermochemical, chemical, biochemical methods and direct combustion. For biodiesel production, triglyceride-enriched biomass undergoes transetherification. For bioalcohol production, biomass is subjected to fermentation. There are three methods of biohydrogen production in the microalgal cells: direct biophotolysis, indirect biophotolysis, fermentation.

Review: Biofuel production from plant and algal biomass

Microalgae as a solution of third world energy crisis for biofuels production from wastewater toward carbon neutrality: An updated review

Microalgae as a solution of third world energy crisis for biofuels production from wastewater toward carbon neutrality: An updated review.

The threatening crisis of climate change and pollution resulting from various anthropogenic interventions has attracted worldwide attention over the last few decades. However, carbon capture and storage (CCS) methods, once seen as a promising technology to mitigate this worrying scenario, are considered economically cumbersome, and their long term environmental implications are still unclear. Alternatively, biological capture of carbon dioxide (CO2) using microalgae is considered an attractive medium for recycling the excess CO2 generated from power plants, automobiles, volcanic eruptions, decomposition of organic matter, and forest fires. Furthermore, through microalgae, CO2 can be captured and recycled into biomass, which in turn could be utilized as a carbon source to produce lipids for the production of bioenergy and other value-added products. In the future, these products are expected to sustainably replace petroleum-derived transport fuel without affecting the food supply chain and crops directly or indirectly. This review focuses on existing literature for biological capture via microalgae to minimize carbon footprint. It also highlights the molecular tools, methodologies and microalgae species currently utilized for CO2 capture.

Minimizing carbon footprint via microalgae as a biological capture

Biogas production is rising in the context of fossil fuel decline and the future circular economy, yet raw biogas requires purification steps before use. Here, we review biogas upgrading using physical, chemical and biological methods such as water scrubbing, physical absorption, pressure swing adsorption, cryogenic separation, membrane separation, chemical scrubbing, chemoautotrophic methods, photosynthetic upgrading and desorption. We also discuss their techno-economic feasibility. We found that physical and chemical upgrading technologies are near-optimal, but still require high energy and resources. Biological methods are less explored despite their promising potential. High-pressure water scrubbing is more economic for small-sized plants, whereas potassium carbonate scrubbing provides the maximum net value for large-sized plants.

Biogas upgrading, economy and utilization: a review

Investigating algae for CO2 capture and accumulation and simultaneous production of biomass for biodiesel production.

Design of Hybrid Solar Photovoltaics/Shrouded Wind Turbine Power System for Thermal Pyrolysis of Plastic Waste

Biological plants such as algae have a great potential of fixating CO2 from flue gases or atmospheric air and converting it into useful biomass. This is because CO2 is part of their photosynthesis ...

Maitha Alshamsi

Papers

Investigating algae for CO2 capture and accumulation and simultaneous production of biomass for biodiesel production.

Design of Hybrid Solar Photovoltaics/Shrouded Wind Turbine Power System for Thermal Pyrolysis of Plastic Waste

Cultivation of Nannochloropsis algae for simultaneous biomass applications and carbon dioxide capture