Exploring Availability of Seaweed for Biofuel Production in Bangladesh

Abstract

This paper aims to explore whether seaweeds from the Bay of Bengal are available for commercial biofuel production. Seaweeds provide various ecosystem services from marine ecosystems that can be utilized as food, cosmetics, fertilizers, industrial chemical, or biofuel. Other than diversified usefulness, seaweeds could be used in a running vehicle. It can be used as an alternative source of non-renewable energy along with a high potential to produce environment-friendly fuel for the next generations. Developed countries are utilizing seaweeds as essential resources of biofuel with advanced technology, machinery, and skilled manpower. From the physiography of the ocean of Bangladesh, it can be found that seaweeds have a high potential to produce biofuel from the coast and offshore areas. Among different types of seaweeds, biofuel can be produced from lipid & fatty acid, carbohydrate, or protein in them. Therefore, a sustainable SWOT analysis has been conducted to explore the availability and potential of seaweeds for biofuel production. To produce biofuel in Bangladesh due to the lack of investment, advanced technology, well-equipped machinery, and skilled manpower are still in shade. However, if investment and technical equipment are embraced for producing raw material (such as specific species of seaweeds) for the biofuel production those could be exported to the nearest market.