Microalgae to biofuels production: a review on cultivation, application and renewable energy

Abstract

Abstract Algae are increasingly emerging as one of the most promising sustainable and long-term sources of biomass and oils for fuel, feed food and other co-products. What makes them so attractive are the large number and wide variety of benefits associated with how and where they grow. This review presents added values and recent developments in resource recovery from microalgae. The main focus was in the cultivation and application of microalgae on biofuel recovery. Nearly all these benefits stem from the fact that these plants have evolved over billions of years to produce and store energy in the form of oil, and they do this more efficiently than any other known natural or engineered process. The results show that the investment in a microalgae biomass project can be associated with various processes, which include: growth of microalgae, harvesting, dehydration and extraction of oils. In addition, there are always project costs, which include engineering, infrastructure, installation and integration and contract fees.