Algal biomass production using waste water

Abstract

Microalgae have emerged as a potential feedstock for sustainable energy in recent years because of their higher biomass productivity and ability to eradicate air and water pollutants via bio-extraction. Augmentation of lipid contents through metabolic pathway engineering and growth conditions optimization along with the efficient harvesting and processing technologies are leading goals of today's microalgae research. Although microalgae have huge potential for biodiesel production yet there are several challenges for making it commercially available. Among several others, extensive water requirement for microalgae cultivation is a major challenge because water is one of the basic requirements for algal cultivation. This chapter describes the current status of algal biomass production and its biotechnological potential as well as exploitation for biofuel production using waste water. The key challenges to algal biomass production on commercial scale, biorefinery concept, and future perspective of the technology are also discussed.