Strategies and Methodologies Increasing Biodiesel Production from Microalgae

Dear Colleagues,

Microalgae biomass as a precursor for biofuels is a potential future alternative substitute for natural sources such as fossil fuel. In particular, the lipids extracted from microalgae cells have the advantages of being renewable biosources for long-term application to the biofuel industry. On a global scale, their application will significantly reduce the impact of flue gases on climate change. This is because microalgae cells utilize CO₂ emissions from industrial waste gases, converting them to lipids and carbohydrates inside the growing cells. Hence, these metabolites can be successfully converted to biodiesel and bioethanol. Special attention can be given to solutions of production of biodiesel from microalgae lipids using transesterification reactions by applying different catalyst or non-catalytic techniques. Technical analysis shows that in the near two decades, biodiesel will satisfy about 70% of transport fuel. An increase in commercial biodiesel is necessary not only for energetic demands but for the preservation of the environment in the concept of green energy policy. In the name of science and green technologies, microalgae’s capabilities to produce oxygen for the planet and their CO₂ mitigation via photosynthesis and further biodiesel from microalgae undoubtedly mean that is can be considered as a key carbon-neutral fuel. Hence, investment in the development of algal biotechnology is crucial for human society. Nevertheless, some obstacles have to be overcome in several directions of the state of the art such as expensive and energy-intensive cultivation, microbial contamination, and biodiesel conversion processes. All of these factors lead to higher production costs. It is known that the main challenge in any bioproduction setup is scale-up problems. Therefore, the aim of this Special Issue is to provide a perspective on strategies and methodologies for improving microalgae lipids synthesis in innovative photobioreactors as well as unit operations during every step of the overall process development, reflected in a reduction in the overall costs of microalgae technology. Genetic manipulation of microalgae cells is of crucial importance for high lipid synthesis, which optimizes the overall process development. Research in the field would be highly appreciated for this Special issue of the journal Fermentation. Furthermore, we would appreciate submissions that present any green biorefinery concept that involves the exploitation of valuable bioproducts extracted from microalgae biomass for the needs of medicine, pharmacy, cosmetics, and so on.

Prof. Dr. Alexander Dimitrov Kroumov
Guest Editor

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• microalgae
• lipids
• cultivation
• kinetics modeling
• photobioreactors modeling
• downstream
• biodiesel
• industrial-scale biodiesel production