Enhanced CO2 fixation and biofuel production via microalgae

Unbalanced production of atmospheric CO₂ constitutes a major challenge to global sustainability. Technologies have thus been developed for enhanced biological carbon fixation (also referred to as CO₂ mitigation), and one of the most promising capitalizes on microalgae.

However, the “best bioreactor”, which would be able to achieve maximum productivity and maximum energy efficiency under a given set of operational costs, does not exist. This review briefly examines the current technologies available for enhanced microalgal CO₂ fixation, and specifically explores the possibility of coupling wastewater treatment with microalgal growth for eventual production of biofuels and/or added-value products, with an emphasis on productivity. In addition, an overview of reactor configurations for CO₂ fixation and bottlenecks associated with the underlying technology are provided. Finally, a review of life cycle analysis studies is presented, and routes for improvement of existing processes are suggested.

Source: Trends in Biotechnology, Amit Kumar et al. (July 2010): Volume 28, Issue 7, Pages 371-380