Development of Microalgae-based Biofuels as a Viable Green Energy Source: Challenges and Future Perspectives

Abstract

This paper presents a comprehensive account of the harvesting and processing technologies of microalgae and their applications in developing biofuels such as biodiesel, ethanol, biogas, syngas, and hydrogen. Microalgae have been reflected as an environmental pollution controlling agent due to their faster growth rate, making them a viable alternative to replace the current uses of non-renewable sources. The significantly large volumes of microalgae culture required for bio products are highlighted as a major concern of the complexity at the harvesting stage. At present, there are hardly any single methods that could generally be applied for processing the broad range of microalgae species with varying characteristics. Improvements are also required to effectively minimize the energy and cost required for the microalgae processing methods to be applicable at a commercial scale. By improving the techniques used at the harvesting stage, the costs associated with further processing steps to produce microalgae-based bio products and biofuels could be reduced. Future studies should also focus on identifying better algae strains that produce a high yield of good quality biofuel to economically viable algae biofuel.