9 Photosynthetic conversion of CO2 into bioenergy and materials using microalgae

Abstract

Fuel production for mobility is highly dependent on finite fossil resources, such as oil. The energetic use of these fossil resources has led to excessive CO 2 emissions, which result in the climate change effects that endanger the global ecosystem today. In order to mitigate CO 2 -emissions, fast-growing phototropic organisms, such as microalgae have the capacity for efficient CO 2 fixation. The resulting biomass can be converted into advanced biofuels and CO 2 negative advanced materials, such as carbon fiber that can be applied in lightweight building applications. Due to their efficient photosynthetic mechanisms, microalgae have several advantages over land plants like higher growth rates or land efficiency. Nevertheless, only a small percentage of today´s commercial biofuel production is based on algae biomass because of high infrastructure development and process costs. Intensive research and advances in technology might facilitate the use of microalgae as commercially viable energy source in the future. This chapter provides an overview over current application areas of microalgae for the production of sustainable biofuels and biomaterials. The last section focuses especially on potential applications of algae biomass as starting material for jet fuels in the aviation industry and the production of carbon fibers.