High quality water supply for the production of algae

Abstract

Microalgae are unique photosynthetic organisms given that they accumulate storage lipids in substantial quantities and thrive in high salinity water. Algae cultivation is flexible on water quality. Many species of algae thrive in seawater, water from saline aquifers, or even wastewater from treatment plants. Photosynthesis, algae use solar energy to fix carbon dioxide (CO2) into algal biomass, so the water used to cultivate algae must be enriched with CO2. Microalgae can potentially be employed for the production of biofuels in an economically effective and environmentally sustainable manner. Microalgae have been investigated for the production of a number of different biofuels including biodiesel, bio-oil, bio-syngas, and bio-hydrogen. The production of these biofuels can be coupled with flue gas CO2 mitigation, wastewater treatment, and the production of high-value chemicals.