A state-of-the-art review on algae pyrolysis for bioenergy and biochar production
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Algae, as a feedstock with minimum land footprint, is considered a promising biomass for sustainable fuels, chemicals, and materials. Unlike lignocellulosic biomass, algae consist mainly of lipids, carbohydrates, and proteins. This review focusses on the bio-oil and biochar co-products of algae-pyrolysis and presents the current state-of-the-art in the pyrolysis technologies and key applications of algal biochar. Algal biochar holds potential to be a cost-effective fertilizer, as it has high P, N and other nutrient contents. Beyond soil applications, algae-derived biochar has many other applications, such as wastewater-treatment, due to its porous structure and strong ion-exchange capacity. High specific capacitance and stability also make algal biochar a potential supercapacitor material. Furthermore, algal biochar can be great catalysts (or catalyst supports). This review sheds light on a wide range of algae-pyrolysis related topics, including advanced-pyrolysis techniques and the potential biochar applications in soil amendment, energy storage, catalysts, chemical industries, and wastewater-treatment plants.
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Thermochemical processes benefit from high moisture content of algae, which can be advantageous under certain processing conditions.
“These processes benefit from the high moisture content of algae, which can be advantageous under certain processing conditions [96].”
From Algal-Based Carbonaceous Materials for Environmental Remediation: Advances in Wastewater Treatment, Carbon Sequestration, and Biofuel Applications (2025) · cites this paper as [96]
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References 155 · Cited by 211
- Authors
- Sun, J., Norouzi, O., & Mašek, O.
- Affiliations
- University of Edinburgh (GB)
- University of Guelph (CA)
- Corresponding author
- Mašek, Ondřej
- Venue
- Bioresource Technology
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2022-02
- Volume
- 346
- Pages
- 126258
- ISSN
- 0960-8524 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W3213455035
- Cited by
- 211
- References
- 155
- Citations by year
- 2026: 28 · 2025: 44 · 2024: 68 · 2023: 47 · 2022: 23 · 2021: 1
- FWCI
- 2.93
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- Licence
- Locations
- Bioresource Technology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Edinburgh Research Explorer (University of Edinburgh) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Biomedical Engineering › Thermochemical Biomass Conversion Processes
- Physical Sciences › Energy › Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment › Algal biology and biofuel production
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Biomedical Engineering › Biodiesel Production and Applications
- Keywords
- algal biochar, bio-oil, bioenergy, algal biomass, soil amendment, wastewater treatment, ion exchange, supercapacitors, energy storage, catalyst supports, algal lipids
- MeSH terms
- Pyrolysis, Charcoal, Soil, Biomass
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