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Biofuel from Microalgae: Sustainable Pathways

Author

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  • Alvin B. Culaba

    (Mechanical Engineering Department, De La Salle University, 2401 Taft Avenue, Manila 0922, Philippines
    Center for Engineering and Sustainable Development Research, De La Salle University, 2401 Taft Avenue, Manila 0922, Philippines)

  • Aristotle T. Ubando

    (Mechanical Engineering Department, De La Salle University, 2401 Taft Avenue, Manila 0922, Philippines
    Center for Engineering and Sustainable Development Research, De La Salle University, 2401 Taft Avenue, Manila 0922, Philippines
    Thermomechanical Laboratory, De La Salle University, Laguna Campus, LTI Spine Road, Laguna Blvd, Biñan, Laguna 4024, Philippines)

  • Phoebe Mae L. Ching

    (Industrial Engineering Department, De La Salle University, 2401 Taft Avenue, Manila 0922, Philippines
    Industrial Engineering and Decision Analytics Department, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong 100025, China)

  • Wei-Hsin Chen

    (Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 701, Taiwan
    Research Center for Smart Sustainable Circular Economy, Tunghai University, Taichung 407, Taiwan
    Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Chin-Yi University of Technology, Taichung 411, Taiwan)

  • Jo-Shu Chang

    (Research Center for Smart Sustainable Circular Economy, Tunghai University, Taichung 407, Taiwan
    Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, College of Engineering, Tunghai University, Taichung 407, Taiwan
    Department of Chemical Engineering, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 701, Taiwan)

Abstract

As the demand for biofuels increases globally, microalgae offer a viable biomass feedstock to produce biofuel. With abundant sources of biomass in rural communities, these materials could be converted to biodiesel. Efforts are being done in order to pursue commercialization. However, its main usage is for other applications such as pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, and aquaculture, which has a high return of investment. In the last 5 decades of algal research, cultivation to genetically engineered algae have been pursued in order to push algal biofuel commercialization. This will be beneficial to society, especially if coupled with a good government policy of algal biofuels and other by-products. Algal technology is a disruptive but complementary technology that will provide sustainability with regard to the world’s current issues. Commercialization of algal fuel is still a bottleneck and a challenge. Having a large production is technical feasible, but it is not economical as of now. Efforts for the cultivation and production of bio-oil are still ongoing and will continue to develop over time. The life cycle assessment methodology allows for a sustainable evaluation of the production of microalgae biomass to biodiesel.

Suggested Citation

  • Alvin B. Culaba & Aristotle T. Ubando & Phoebe Mae L. Ching & Wei-Hsin Chen & Jo-Shu Chang, 2020. "Biofuel from Microalgae: Sustainable Pathways," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(19), pages 1-19, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:19:p:8009-:d:420736
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Dragone, Giuliano, 2022. "Challenges and opportunities to increase economic feasibility and sustainability of mixotrophic cultivation of green microalgae of the genus Chlorella," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).
    2. Marcin Dębowski & Izabela Świca & Joanna Kazimierowicz & Marcin Zieliński, 2022. "Large Scale Microalgae Biofuel Technology—Development Perspectives in Light of the Barriers and Limitations," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(1), pages 1-23, December.
    3. Peter, Angela Paul & Koyande, Apurav Krishna & Chew, Kit Wayne & Ho, Shih-Hsin & Chen, Wei-Hsin & Chang, Jo-Shu & Krishnamoorthy, Rambabu & Banat, Fawzi & Show, Pau Loke, 2022. "Continuous cultivation of microalgae in photobioreactors as a source of renewable energy: Current status and future challenges," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    4. Chen, Wei-Hsin & Felix, Charles B., 2024. "Thermo-kinetics study of microalgal biomass in oxidative torrefaction followed by machine learning regression and classification approaches," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 301(C).
    5. Amira Toumi & Natalia Politaeva & Saša Đurović & Liliya Mukhametova & Svetlana Ilyashenko, 2022. "Obtaining DHA–EPA Oil Concentrates from the Biomass of Microalga Chlorella sorokiniana," Resources, MDPI, vol. 11(2), pages 1-13, February.
    6. Marcin Zieliński & Marta Kisielewska & Annamaria Talpalaru & Paulina Rusanowska & Joanna Kazimierowicz & Marcin Dębowski, 2025. "Integration of Aquaculture Wastewater Treatment and Chlorella vulgaris Cultivation as a Sustainable Method for Biofuel Production," Energies, MDPI, vol. 18(16), pages 1-23, August.

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