Presented by

ANIRUDH GARG
2015A1PS498P
• Derived form biological materials through biomass conversion
• Renewable
• Production requires more effort and resources
• Can significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions
• Release CO2 when burning
• Biofuel production consumes it back
• Types:
• Ethanol
• Biodiesel
• Bio gasoline
• Bio butanol
• Methane
• Jet fuel
• Algae are simple plants that range from microalgae to large
seaweeds, such as giant kelp
• Algae can be grown using brackish-, sea-, and wastewater
unsuitable for cultivating agricultural crops
• Most microalgae grow through photosynthesis by
converting sunlight, CO2, and a few nutrients, including
nitrogen and phosphorous, into biomass
• Other algae can grow in the dark using sugar or starch
• Can be grown on marginal lands useless for ordinary crops
• High yield per acre – have a harvesting cycle of 1–10 days
• Can be grown with minimal impact on fresh water resources
• Can be grown using flue gas from power plants as
a CO2 source
• Can convert a much higher fraction of biomass to oil than
conventional crops, e.g. 60% versus 2-3% for soybean
Algae yield is multiple times higher than other biofuel crops
Algae biofuel production also fares better than others in greenhouse
gas emissions and resources needed for fuel manufacturing, except
energy
Small amounts of algae are then put into a tank with water and nutrients similar to those in
household fertilizer. Typically the algae is now exposed to sunlight, whereupon it rapidly
reproduces and undergoes photosynthesis, converting carbon dioxide into sugar. The cell then
metabolizes the sugar into lipids, or oil.
1)Decide what type of algae you will grow. Choose a species with high levels of chlorophyll
and a high percentage of oil yields.

2) Your growing environment and chosen method will also be deciding factors in the strain of
algae you choose. Some algae grow well in hot, shallow ponds, called photobioreactors,
which work well in the heat of the desert. Other algae, like cryophytic algae, grow in cold,
icy conditions.

3) Cultivate the algae in your chosen aerial, aquatic or marine device, depending on the
location. It is possible to cultivate algae in almost any environment.

4)Harvest up to 90 percent of the algae with each harvest. Algae duplicate every 24 hours, so
your crop will be ready to harvest again soon. The waste liquor that comes as a byproduct of
the harvesting process can be processed further to recover valuable material.
5)Extract the oil from the algae through one of the many available extraction processes. Use
enzymes as a solvent through enzymatic extraction; utilize an ultrasonic reactor to break
down the cell walls, or extract the oil through osmosis, using osmotic shock. Most methods
of extraction are expensive and require advanced machinery.

6) Distill the extracted oil to remove any bits of useable algae. The final product is
triglyceride, which must be put through a biodiesel processor to make biodiesel; or use it
directly in most diesel engines. The by-product is leftover algae proteins. Through extrusion
and dewatering processes, you can extract these healthy proteins to be used as healthy
ingredients in animal and human foods.
1. It requires a huge amount of money.
The biggest disadvantage of producing algae biofuel is that it is still far too
expensive to be commercially viable, with the prices of various algae species
typically varying between five to 10 dollars per kilogram. As of this time, the
industry is still experimenting on a wide variety of methods to grow algae,
with the most popular being open-pond systems that accounted for 98% of
commercial algae biomass production in 2008.

2. Its production still needs a lot of work to do.

According to research, the production of algae biofuel still needs a lot of work,
especially in the process of oil extraction and low yields. In dry extraction, where
algae are dried using the sun or artificial means, yields are significantly lower than
what is expected.
Biogas Bioethanol

Cosmetics Nutraceuticals
Pharmaceuticals
Biodiesel Biobutanol Vitamins
Biofuel

Food

Bioplastics

Feedstock Animal feed Fertilizer/nutrients

Algae Biofuel is a very promising candidate for energy production:
• Algae’s cultivation does not require much resources in competition with other biofuel.
• Ability for algae to be cultivated on non-arable land, using saltwater,
greatly reduces its impact on the environment
• Produces over 20 times the oil production of any food crop - an acre of algae can
produce almost 5,000 gallons of biodiesel
• Production can reach 60 billion gallons/year that could replace all diesel in
the U.S.
• However, current economic climate makes development of algal programs quite costly

• A highly feasible way to continue biofuel development while remaining commercially

competitive is to produce algal fuel as a co-product to more lucrative products such as
animal feed and nutraceuticals product