Energies 2013, 6, 5676-5702; doi:10.3390/en6115676 OPEN ACCESS energies ISSN 1996–1073 www.mdpi.com/journal/energies Article Microalgal Species Selection for Biodiesel Production Based on Fuel Properties Derived from Fatty Acid Profiles Muhammad Aminul Islam 1,*, Marie Magnusson 2,3, Richard J. Brown 1, Godwin A. Ayoko 1, Md. Nurun Nabi 1 and Kirsten Heimann 2,3,4,* 1 Biofuel Engine Research facilities, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland 4000, Australia; E-Mails:
[email protected] (R.J.B.);
[email protected] (G.A.A.);
[email protected] (M.N.N.) 2 School of Marine and Tropical Biology, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland 4811, Australia; E-Mail:
[email protected] 3 Centre for Sustainable Fisheries and Aquaculture, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland 4811, Australia 4 Centre for Biodiscovery and Molecular Development of Therapeutics, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland 4811, Australia * Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed; E-Mails:
[email protected] (M.A.I.);
[email protected] (K.H.); Tel.: +61-4-2381-9870 (M.A.I.); +61-7-4781-5795 (K.H.). Received: 17 August 2013; in revise form: 27 September 2013 / Accepted: 15 October 2013 / Published: 29 October 2013 Abstract: Physical and chemical properties of biodiesel are influenced by structural features of the fatty acids, such as chain length, degree of unsaturation and branching of the carbon chain. This study investigated if microalgal fatty acid profiles are suitable for biodiesel characterization and species selection through Preference Ranking Organisation Method for Enrichment Evaluation (PROMETHEE) and Graphical Analysis for Interactive Assistance (GAIA) analysis.