The DOI matches its Crossref record; 242 of the 251 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Constraints to commercialization of algal fuels
Abstract
Production of algal crude oil has been achieved in various pilot scale facilities, but whether algal fuels can be produced in sufficient quantity to meaningfully displace petroleum fuels, has been largely overlooked. Limitations to commercialization of algal fuels need to be understood and addressed for any future commercialization. This review identifies the major constraints to commercialization of transport fuels from microalgae. Algae derived fuels are expensive compared to petroleum derived fuels, but this could change. Unfortunately, improved economics of production are not sufficient for an environmentally sustainable production, or its large scale feasibility. A low-cost point supply of concentrated carbon dioxide colocated with the other essential resources is necessary for producing algal fuels. An insufficiency of concentrated carbon dioxide is actually a major impediment to any substantial production of algal fuels. Sustainability of production requires the development of an ability to almost fully recycle the phosphorous and nitrogen nutrients that are necessary for algae culture. Development of a nitrogen biofixation ability to support production of algal fuels ought to be an important long term objective. At sufficiently large scale, a limited supply of freshwater will pose a significant limitation to production even if marine algae are used. Processes for recovering energy from the algal biomass left after the extraction of oil, are required for achieving a net positive energy balance in the algal fuel oil. The near term outlook for widespread use of algal fuels appears bleak, but fuels for niche applications such as in aviation may be likely in the medium term. Genetic and metabolic engineering of microalgae to boost production of fuel oil and ease its recovery, are essential for commercialization of algal fuels. Algae will need to be genetically modified for improved photosynthetic efficiency in the long term.
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“For photoautotrophic microalgae cultivation, carbon must be delivered in the form of carbon dioxide (CO2) as the diffusion of atmospheric CO2 hinders the growth of microalgae (Chisti, 2013).”
From Strategies to Produce Cost-Effective Third-Generation Biofuel From Microalgae (2021) · cites this paper as Chisti, 2013
In the citing paper
“Despite the outstanding characteristics attributed to microalgae, their industrial-scale production still struggles with scale-up problems and economic feasibility.”
From Software sensors in the monitoring of microalgae cultivations (2024) · cites this paper as Chisti 2013
Citations
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Cited by
Sorted by citations
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Lipid Droplets Mediate Salt Stress Tolerance in Parachlorella kessleri 1
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Berthold, D. E., Shetty, K. G., Jayachandran, K., Laughinghouse, H. D., & Gantar, M. (2019) · Biomass and Bioenergy · doi:10.1016/j.biombioe.2019.01.033 · Cited by 86
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Metadata
- Authors
- Chisti, Y.
- Venue
- Journal of Biotechnology
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2013-09
- Volume
- 167
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 201-214
- ISSN
- 0168-1656 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2165821458
- Cited by
- 719
- References
- 251
- Citations by year
- 2026: 18 · 2025: 27 · 2024: 33 · 2023: 41 · 2022: 56 · 2021: 56 · 2020: 73 · 2019: 75 · 2018: 68 · 2017: 77 · 2016: 72 · 2015: 61 · 2014: 57 · 2013: 4
- FWCI
- 3.66
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Biotechnology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Energy › Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment › Algal biology and biofuel production
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Microbial Metabolic Engineering and Bioproduction
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Agronomy and Crop Science › Bioenergy crop production and management
- Keywords
- microalgae, commercialization, transportation fuels, carbon dioxide supply, nutrient cycling, nitrogen fixation, phosphorus recycling, freshwater scarcity, net energy balance, genetic engineering of microalgae, photosynthetic efficiency, aviation biofuels, production economics
- MeSH terms
- Biotechnology, Carbon Dioxide, Oils, Biofuels, Microalgae
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