The decline in reserves of fossil fuels has shifted the world towards renewable and sustainable alternative fuels. Microalgae, a rich source of triacylglycerol, are a potential candidate for biodiesel production. The rising industrial uses of algae led to the development of different unit operations. Unraveling the biochemistry of compounds present in algae to produce biofuels and byproducts, biomass productivity and efficient extraction of bioactive compounds remain key hurdles. This review brings into light the different cell disruption methodologies, with reduced environmental hazards caused by conventional methods. The production of lipids for biofuel like biodiesel cannot alone sustain the algae-based economy. Therefore, using lipid extracted biomass for various other purposes serves it a solution. Lipid Extracted Biomass has numerous applications, including the production of biofuels like biohydrogen and biogas, biochar, bio-composites, carbon quantum dots and bio-polythene of different densities. It can also be used as animal feed, manure to improve soil fertility and to treat wastewater. The present article discusses the state-of-the-art technologies developed for algal biomass cultivation, harvesting and drying. This comparative discussion on different algal biofuels’ unit operations will reveal associated technological challenges arising during various unit operations, from cultivation to lipid extraction and its conversion to biodiesel. This study presents a sustainable solution for extracting lipids from microalgae by utilizing its byproducts for several commercial purposes. The study concludes that modifications are required in the conventional approaches of harvesting, drying along with cultivation to improve the bioeconomic potential of algae