Thursday, August 6, 2015

What is microalgae biofuel?

Unlike fossil fuels, biofuels are created from biological processes (such as fermentation) instead of geological ones. Microalgae are photosynthetic microorganisms. The microalgae particularly important to biofuel production are eukaryotic microalgae. These organisms have membrane-bound organelles. The biofuel itself is composed of triacylglycerols.


One of the benefits of microalgae biofuel over macroalgae (seaweed) is that they aren’t used as a food source for humans and most livestock. Another benefit is that they are found in nearly all aquatic environments. This means that they could potentially be grown in environments not suitable for other forms of agricultural production. Lastly, every microalgae cell will yield biofuel. Macroalgae can only produce biofuel from specialized cells. So they also produce a greater biofuel yield relative to biomass.

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