Algae for Biofuels and Energy Developments in Applied Phycology 5

Algae for Biofuels and Energy Developments in Applied Phycology 5 Series Editor: Michael A. Borowitzka School of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology Murdoch University, Murdoch, Western Australia, Australia For further volumes: http://www.springer.com/series/7591 Michael A. Borowitzka • Navid R. Moheimani Editors Algae for Biofuels and Energy Editors Michael A. Borowitzka Navid R. Moheimani Algae R&D Centre Algae R&D Centre School of Biological Sciences School of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology and Biotechnology Murdoch University Murdoch University Murdoch, WA, Australia Murdoch , WA, Australia ISBN 978-94-007-5478-2 ISBN 978-94-007-5479-9 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-94-007-5479-9 Springer Dordrecht Heidelberg New York London Library of Congress Control Number: 2012954780 © Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2013 This work is subject to copyright. 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Cover design: Dr. Roberto de Philippis Printed on acid-free paper Springer is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com) Preface The concept of using algae as a source of renewable fuels and energy is quite an old one, dating back at least to 1931, but one which gained much attention during the 1990’s oil crisis and then, once again, more recently interest in algae as a source of biofuels has risen dramatically. The potential attractive features of algae have often been listed, but as yet the high cost of producing algae biomass means that algal biofuels as an economical, renewable and sustain- able source of biofuels and bioenergy is still somewhat off in the future. Microalgae are cur- rently probably the most studied potential source of biofuels, and in the US alone there are some 30+ companies working in the area and total investment in R&D is in excess of several billion $US worldwide. This book focuses on microalgae rather than seaweeds, as microalgae are the most attractive for renewable energy production, especially the production of biodiesel, although seaweed biomass can also be used. The aim of this book is to review in detail the most important aspects of the microalgae-to-bioenergy process, with an emphasis on microalgae as sources of lipids for the production of biodiesel and as potential sources of hydrogen. The book is meant as a guide and resource for both the experienced practitioners in the fi eld and to those newer to this exciting fi eld of research. However, no single book can cover all aspects of the production of bioenergy from algae; for example, we do not cover the fermentation of algal biomass to produce methane, nor the fermentation of algal sugars to ethanol or butanol. This book begins (Chap. 1 ) with an introduction to the history and developments over the last 80 years or so in the area of large-scale and commercial-scale culture of microalgae and the extensive literature that is available. Much can be learned from the extensive research that has been carried out, and by knowing this history (some of which is not easily accessible) we can avoid repeating past mistakes. One of the key attractions of microalgae is the high lipid content of some species and the lipid and fatty acid composition and metabolism is covered in Chap. 2 by Guschina and Harwood, and the production and properties of biodiesel from these algal oils is considered in detail by Knothe in Chap. 12 , while Chap. 3 by Peters et al. considers hydrogenases, nitroginases and H2 production by water-oxidizing phototrophs (i.e. algae and cyanobacteria). The fi rst step in developing an algae bioenergy process is species and strain selection and this topic is considered in detail in Chap. 4 . Chapter 5 by Beardall and Raven focuses on light and inorganic carbon supply as key limiting factors to growth in dense cultures and Chap. 6 by Rasala et al. looks at how genetic engineering may be used to improve and modify algae strains. The systems for production of microalgae biomass are reviewed in Chaps. 7 (photobioreactors; Chini Zittelli et al.), 8 (open pond systems (Borowitzka & Moheimani) and 9 (systems utilizing waste waters; Craggs et al.). The key downstream processes of harvesting and dewatering and extraction of the lipids are covered in Chaps. 10 (Pahl et al.) and 11 (Molina Grima et al.). Finally, Chap. 13 (Jacobi and Posten) looks at the energy balances of closed photobioreactors and how these may be improved, Chap. 14 (Flesch et al.) looks at the greenhouse gas balance of algae based biodiesel using a range of models, and Chap. 15 (Borowitzka) describes the process of techno-economic modelling and how it can be used to guide R&D in the devel- opment of algae biofuels. v vi Preface In our experience there is also often some confusion on the basic laboratory methods used in algae culture and for the analysis of their basic composition, and we have therefore included a chapter on these basic methods as used and veri fi ed in our laboratory over many years. We hope that, by providing this information in an easily accessible format, newer workers in the fi eld will be able to produce more reliable results which can then be easily compared between different laboratories. Michael Armin Borowitzka Navid Reza Moheimani Contents 1 Energy from Microalgae: A Short History ............................................................ 1 Michael A. Borowitzka 2 Algal Lipids and Their Metabolism ....................................................................... 17 Irina A. Guschina and John L. Harwood 3 Hydrogenases, Nitrogenases, Anoxia, and H2 Production in Water-Oxidizing Phototrophs ............................................................................. 37 John W. Peters , Eric S. Boyd , Sarah D’Adamo , David W. Mulder , Jesse Therien , and Matthew C. Posewitz 4 Species and Strain Selection .................................................................................... 77 Michael A. Borowitzka 5 Limits to Phototrophic Growth in Dense Culture: CO2 Supply and Light ........ 91 John Beardall and John A. Raven 6 Genetic Engineering to Improve Algal Biofuels Production ................................ 99 Beth A. Rasala , Javier A. Gimpel , Miller Tran , Mike J. Hannon , Shigeki Joseph Miyake-Stoner , Elizabeth A. Specht , and Stephen P. May fi eld 7 Photobioreactors for Microalgal Biofuel Production ........................................... 115 Graziella Chini Zittelli , Liliana Rodol fi , Niccoló Bassi , Natascia Biondi , and Mario R. Tredici 8 Open Pond Culture Systems ................................................................................... 133 Michael A. Borowitzka and Navid Reza Moheimani 9 Wastewater Treatment and Algal Biofuel Production .......................................... 153 Rupert J. Craggs , Tryg J. Lundquist , and John R. Benemann 10 Harvesting, Thickening and Dewatering Microalgae Biomass ............................ 165 Stephen L. Pahl , Andrew K. Lee , Theo Kalaitzidis , Peter J. Ashman , Suraj Sathe , and David M. Lewis 11 Solvent Extraction for Microalgae Lipids.............................................................. 187 Emilio Molina Grima , María Jose Ibáñez González , and Antonio Giménez Giménez 12 Production and Properties of Biodiesel from Algal Oils....................................... 207 Gerhard Knothe 13 Energy Considerations of Photobioreactors .......................................................... 223 Anna Jacobi and Clemens Posten 14 Greenhouse Gas Balance and Algae-Based Biodiesel ........................................... 233 Anne Flesch , Tom Beer , Peter K. Campbell , David Batten , and Tim Grant vii viii Contents 15 Techno-Economic Modeling for Biofuels from Microalgae ................................. 255 Michael A. Borowitzka 16 Standard Methods for Measuring Growth of Algae and Their Composition ............................................................................................ 265 Navid Reza Moheimani

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