Ebook: The Science of Algal Fuels: Phycology, Geology, Biophotonics, Genomics and Nanotechnology

This volume, The Science of Algal Fuels (volume 25 of COLE), contains 26 chapters dealing with biofuels contributed by experts from numerous countries and covers several aspects of algal products, one being “oilgae from algae,” mainly oils and fuels for engines. Among the prominent algal groups that participate in this process are the diatoms and green algae (Chlorophyceae). Their metabolism and breeding play an important role in biomass and extraction of crude oil and algal fuel. There is a strong relation between solar energy influencing algal culture and the photobiology of lipid metabolism. Currently, many international meetings and conferences on biofuel are taking place in many countries, and several new books and proceedings of conferences have appeared on this topic. All this indicates that this field is “hot” and in the forefront of applied bioscience.

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This volume covers and updates the “hot” topic of biofuels, with numerous international meetings, conferences, congresses, and books on biofuels. Our 61 experts from several countries contributed 26 chapters to The Science of Algal Fuels. Each chapter has been composed as a review article and contains many references for further studies and has been peer reviewed. The target audience of this volume is workers in biofuels, graduate students in biochemistry and lecturers of phycology and biochemistry of the algal world. Algae, seaweeds and cyanobacteria, who are our stars in this book, live in marine and terrestrial habitats and require the Sun for energy, CO2 and aqueous surroundings. Since it is easy to culture algae in a large scale and they yield abundant biomass in a short period, there are farms that grow them in ponds for extracting their natural products. Micro and macro (seaweeds) can produce cheap and plentiful biofuel, biodiesel, or ethanol. The phycological yield to synthesize ethanol is 7.5 times higher than from a similar area of a sugar cane field. Biofuel (such as algal products) may soon be cheaper than the commercial pumping of underground and sea bottom fossil-oil, which causes more air pollution and depends upon political decisions from unstable countries. Industry seeks cheaper and more stable sources of fuel and algal fuel might be a good solution. Thus biofuel (biodiesel, oils, ethanol) might free us from unstable regimes with their “dark gold” sources, and from up and down oil prices. Unfortunately we have not yet reached this level as yet in spite of numerous contestants in this developing research. The industry is at present not in full gear to produce a substantial yield of biofuel from algae. Algal fuel is still a long range of strategy that will involve more R&D. Our hope is that this book will encourage the workers in this field to reach this “promised land” of algal biofuels in the not too distant future.

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This volume covers and updates the “hot” topic of biofuels, with numerous international meetings, conferences, congresses, and books on biofuels. Our 61 experts from several countries contributed 26 chapters to The Science of Algal Fuels. Each chapter has been composed as a review article and contains many references for further studies and has been peer reviewed. The target audience of this volume is workers in biofuels, graduate students in biochemistry and lecturers of phycology and biochemistry of the algal world. Algae, seaweeds and cyanobacteria, who are our stars in this book, live in marine and terrestrial habitats and require the Sun for energy, CO2 and aqueous surroundings. Since it is easy to culture algae in a large scale and they yield abundant biomass in a short period, there are farms that grow them in ponds for extracting their natural products. Micro and macro (seaweeds) can produce cheap and plentiful biofuel, biodiesel, or ethanol. The phycological yield to synthesize ethanol is 7.5 times higher than from a similar area of a sugar cane field. Biofuel (such as algal products) may soon be cheaper than the commercial pumping of underground and sea bottom fossil-oil, which causes more air pollution and depends upon political decisions from unstable countries. Industry seeks cheaper and more stable sources of fuel and algal fuel might be a good solution. Thus biofuel (biodiesel, oils, ethanol) might free us from unstable regimes with their “dark gold” sources, and from up and down oil prices. Unfortunately we have not yet reached this level as yet in spite of numerous contestants in this developing research. The industry is at present not in full gear to produce a substantial yield of biofuel from algae. Algal fuel is still a long range of strategy that will involve more R&D. Our hope is that this book will encourage the workers in this field to reach this “promised land” of algal biofuels in the not too distant future.

Content:
Front Matter....Pages i-xxxiii
Front Matter....Pages 1-1
Quitting Cold Turkey: Rapid Oil Independence for the USA....Pages 3-20
Algal Biorefinery: Sustainable Production of Biofuels and Aquaculture Feed?....Pages 21-41
Approaches and Prospectives for Algal Fuel....Pages 43-62
From Isolation of Potential Microalgal Strains to Strain Engineering for Biofuel....Pages 63-81
Integrated Approach to Algae Production for Biofuel Utilizing Robust Algal Species....Pages 83-100
Biological Constraints on the Production of Microalgal-Based Biofuels....Pages 101-129
Adapting Mass Algaculture for a Northern Climate....Pages 131-146
Nanotechnology for Algal Biofuels....Pages 147-163
From Algae to Biofuel: Engineering Aspects....Pages 165-175
Making Fuel from Algae: Identifying Fact Amid Fiction....Pages 177-192
Algal Oils: Biosynthesis and Uses....Pages 193-214
Biofuel Production from Algae Through Integrated Biorefinery....Pages 215-230
Front Matter....Pages 231-231
Dinoflagellates as Feedstock for Biodiesel Production....Pages 233-254
Biodiesel Production from Microalgae: Methods for Microalgal Lipid Assessment with Emphasis on the Use of Flow Cytometry....Pages 255-267
Approaches and Perspectives About Biodiesel and Oil Production Using Algae in Mexico....Pages 269-282
Biodiesel Production from Microalgae: A Mapping of Articles and Patents....Pages 283-303
Front Matter....Pages 305-320
How to Breed Diatoms: Examination of Two Species with Contrasting Reproductive Biology....Pages 321-321
Fuel from Seaweeds: Rationale and Feasibility....Pages 323-340
The Contribution of Diatoms to Worldwide Crude Oil Deposits....Pages 341-354
Front Matter....Pages 355-382
Photobiology and Lipid Metabolism in Algae....Pages 321-321
Metabolic Pathways in Green Algae with Potential Value for Biofuel Production....Pages 383-398
Front Matter....Pages 399-422
Wastewater Treatment Pond Algal Production for Biofuel....Pages 423-423
Wastewater Treatment Integrated with Algae Production for Biofuel....Pages 425-445
Sub- and Supercritical Water-Based Processes for Microalgae to Biofuels....Pages 447-466
Back Matter....Pages 467-493
....Pages 495-506