Abstract
Oils from yeasts have emerged as a suitable alternative raw material to produce biodiesel, due to their similar composition to common raw materials such as vegetable oils. Additionally, they have the advantage of not competing with human or animal feed, and, furthermore, they do not compete for arable land. In this work, a carbon and energy balance was evaluated for Yarrowia lipolytica as a model yeast, using crude glycerol from biodiesel as the only carbon source, which improves biodiesel overall yield by 6%. The process presented a positive energy balance. Feasibility of yeast oil as biodiesel substrate was also evaluated by determination of the lipid fatty acid profile and cetane number. Moreover, a comparison of oil yields, in terms of land use, between vegetable, microalgae, and yeast oils is also presented. The results showed that Y. lipolytica oil yield is considerably higher than vegetable oils (767 times) and microalgae (36 times).
Highlights
Biodiesel has become the most sustainable and renewable alternative to fossil diesel
Microbial oils are defined as the oils produced by oleaginous microorganisms, i.e., microorganisms able to accumulate more than 20% of their dry cell weight (DCW) as lipids in the form of droplets inside the cells [3]
The yeast strain used for the study was a Yarrowia lipolytica, which was previously isolated in our lab and selected by its lipid content and versatility to grow in different substrates
Summary
Biodiesel has become the most sustainable and renewable alternative to fossil diesel It is defined as a mixture of free fatty acid alkyl esters, usually obtained from vegetable oils and animal fats [1]. Many studies are focused on the utilization of lower-cost and nonedible feedstocks, such as waste or nonedible oils [1] In this regard, microbial oils have emerged as alternative raw materials. Microbial oils are defined as the oils produced by oleaginous microorganisms, i.e., microorganisms able to accumulate more than 20% of their dry cell weight (DCW) as lipids in the form of droplets inside the cells [3] This accumulation is mainly due to an excess of carbon (C) source and a limiting amount of another nutrient, such as nitrogen (N) [4, 5]. Several studies are focused on adding value to this coproduct by using it as a substrate for microbial cultures in biotechnological processes [6,7,8,9,10]
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