Algal Biomass to Bio-Energy:Recent Advances

The crops, grasses, trees, algae and cyano-bacteria in the presence of sun perform photosynthesis and store chemical energy in a wide range of feed stocks such as starch, sugars and lipids that can be used for the production of biofuels. The crop plants such as sugar cane, oil palm, sugar beet, rapeseed soyabeans, wheat and corn are extensively used for the production of biofuels such as ethanol, diesel and methane. Due to increasing world population and extensive droughts in major regions pressure on food supplies has resulted in growing concern and has led to a heated food versus fuel debate. Biofuel systems that do not require arable land is developed and these include lingo cellulosic processes which convert cellulose-based products from plants into liquid fuels. Myscanthus, Camelina, Switchgrass, Sorghum, and Poplar trees are some of good source of biofuel at present. The success of these systems is depend on research and development of energy-efficient manufacturing processes, typically enzymatic lignin digestion processes, although chemical digestion methods are also under investigation. Due to demand for large amounts of enzyme appears to be as mountable challenge, ultimately this technology might also contribute to food versus fuel concerns because of its dependence on forest. This in turn could lead to a forest versus fuel issue, unless waste products from agricultural and forestry systems are exclusively used, or feed stocks produced on non-arable land can be developed. Although these crops can be grown on non-arable land, their productivity remains linked to soil fertility and water supply, and the scale of cultivation required to make a meaningful contribution towards global energy consumption will inevitably require lands that are currently used for food production or forestry. Many micro algae can be grown in saline water and are able to produce a wide range of feed stocks for the production of biofuels, including biodiesel, methane, ethanol, butanol and hydrogen, based on their efficient production of starch, sugars and oils.