ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Algal biofuel production and mitigation potential in India

H. N. Chanakya & Durga Madhab Mahapatra &
R. Sarada & R. Abitha
Received: 13 February 2012 / Accepted: 19 April 2012 / Published online: 24 May 2012
#
Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2012
Abstract Energy and energy services are the backbone of growth and development in India and
is increasingly dependent upon the use of fossil based fuels that lead to greenhouse gases (GHG)
emissions and related concerns. Algal biofuels are being evolved as carbon (C)-neutral
alternative biofuels. Algae are photosynthetic microorganisms that convert sunlight, water and
carbon dioxide (CO
2
) to various sugars and lipids Tri-Acyl-Glycols (TAG) and show promise as
an alternative, renewable and green fuel source for India. Compared to land based oilseed crops
algae have potentially higher yields (512 g/m
2
/d) and can use locations and water resources not
suited for agriculture. Within India, there is little additional land area for algal cultivation and
therefore needs to be carried out in places that are already used for agriculture, e.g. flooded paddy
lands (20 Mha) with village level technologies and on saline wastelands (3 Mha). Cultivating
algae under such conditions requires novel multi-tier, multi-cyclic approaches of sharing land
area without causing threats to food and water security as well as demand for additional fertilizer
resources by adopting multi-tier cropping (algae-paddy) in decentralized open pond systems. A
large part of the algal biofuel production is possible in flooded paddy crop land before the crop
reaches dense canopies, in wastewaters (40 billion litres per day), in salt affected lands and in
nutrient/diversity impoverished shallow coastline fishery. Mitigation will be achieved through
avoidance of GHG, C-capture options and substitution of fossil fuels. Estimates made in this
paper suggest that nearly half of the current transportation petro-fuels could be produced at such
locations without disruption of food security, water security or overall sustainability. This shift
can also provide significant mitigation avenues. The major adaptation needs are related to
socio-technical acceptance for reuse of various wastelands, wastewaters and waste-derived
energy and by-products through policy and attitude change efforts.
Keywords Algal biofuel
.
Wastewater algae
.
Paddy-algiculture
.
Multi-tier
.
Multi-cyclic
algiculture
.
Algal biomethane
Mitig Adapt Strateg Glob Change (2013) 18:113136
DOI 10.1007/s11027-012-9389-z
H. N. Chanakya (*)
:
D. M. Mahapatra
:
R. Abitha
Centre for Sustainable Technologies, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560012, India
e-mail: chanakya@astra.iisc.ernet.in
R. Sarada
Plant Cell Biotechnlogy, CFTRI, Mysore 570020, India
1 Introduction
The global energy demand, especially petroleum derived fuels (PDF), has been increasing at
an unprecedented rate with an increasing pressure on the utilities of fossil based fuels. This
increased usage of fossil fuels, especially dependence of the development process on PDF is
considered unsustainable for several reasons. The most important reason is the increased
levels of greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions (Hill et al. 2006). Increased rates of
PDF-dependent development have been argued to hasten the process of climate change.
Thus a shift to renewables will not only slow down this trend but will ultimately lower the
net carbon dioxide (CO
2
) levels and reverse climate change trends. Along with carbon
dioxide (CO
2
) are concerns of increased generation of wastewater and its discharge in
inadequately treated conditions. Such wastewaters have plenty of plant nutrients such as
nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) (together called NPK). As most fertilizers
(especially Nbased ones) are manufactured at the expense of fossil fuels petroleumderived or
natural gas, a lot of current research envisages to raise algae on these wastewaters to firstly
generate algal biomass for petroleum like fuels, second recover and recycle high energy
containing N (and scarce P) from wastewaters and third treat wastewaters without simultaneous
emissions of methane a potent GHG. There is thus an increasing need for strategies and
technologies that help in generation of renewable energy from algal cultivation that make
biofuels C-neutral (Hill et al. 2006; Rittmann 2008; Demirbas 2009) and at the same time treat
wastewater (Woertz et al. 2009; Pittman et al. 2011; Devi et al. 2012).
For some time now, crop-based biofuel alternatives have been considered to be economic
and competitive compared to fossil fuels. However, when compared to the potential from
algal biofuels, the energy returns from land based oil-seed crops are less because of low
productivities (Khan et al. 2009), etc. Further, it is generally seen that terrestrial biofuel
crops compete with conventional food crops for land area and other resources and therefore
pose a threat to food security of the region (Hill et al. 2006; Demirbas. 2009). Algal biofuels
on the other hand appear to be a potential alternative that seemingly does not impact the
agriculture and has the added advantage of an ability to grow in extreme environments that
are not considered suitable for conventional agriculture and yet possess high productivities
(Singh et al. 2011). The increased volumes of wastewater as well as a discharge of partially
treated wastewater by rapidly urbanizing areas of developing countries have posed a serious
threat of pollution of surface and ground water resources. New technologies to use various
forms of nutrient laden wastewaters to generate algal biofuels with simultaneous water
purification will reduce water pollution problems of rapidly urbanizing cities and help water
intensive agriculture.
Algae derived biofuels promise substitute for PDF under laboratory and pilot plant
conditions - a classic estimate to substitute US PDF needs suggests that only 0.49 % of
land area of United States (US) is required (Hartman 2008) assuming that algae will be
grown in near desert like lands (wasteland) using brackish water unfit for agriculture
(Sheehan et al. 1998) and with little threat to food security or environment and the process
is thus considered in this context quite sustainable. Similarly, various studies in India project
biofuel potential of India using marginal and wastelands (Jatropha and various tree crops) to
be sustainable to generate biofuels to meet Indias energy needs (Kumar and Sharma 2005).
While studies with respect to woody biomass cultivated on wastelands have assumed a
productivity of 4 t/ha/yr as woody biomass (Reddy 1994), 410 t/ha/yr for oilseed crops
(Abhilash et al. 2010), the estimates for algal biomass derived fuels appear alluring at 36 t/
ha/yr (Dayananda et al. 2006; Centre for Sustainable Technologies unpublished report)
going up to 125175 t/ha/yr (Chisti 2007) and is therefore much more attractive to pursue
114 Mitig Adapt Strateg Glob Change (2013) 18:113136
and review. Most of such studies on biofuels have attempted to address sustainability issues
emerging from threat to food security (Singh et al. 2011) or as a means for regeneration of
wastelands (Khan et al. 2009).
When a large scale shift to biofuels needs to be considered in India, using for example
marginal and wastelands, the sustainability threats emerge in multiple domains and are
complex. They need to be studied individually and addressed collectively so that potential
alternatives or options could be found. The issues of sustainability then transcend mere
arguments on the availability of land for cultivating such biofuels. For example, issues of
providing mineral nutrition, the large volumes of water needed, pests and diseases, control
and managing of process wastes and many other social and economic dimensions of
sustainability assume importance. Considering that every kg of algal biofuel would need
between 0.3 and 0.5 kg N to be supplied to algal ponds, identifying the additional fuel
sources to synthesize additional N fertilizer for growing algae becomes vital. Further,
because about 2 kg fossil fuel is used up to synthesize 1 kg of N, in the above context of
the N and other nutrient requirement for algal biofuel production, the overall energetics
could become negative unless sustainable alternatives to this issue are evolved. Energy-
intensive laboratory and pilot plant studies have often raised the expectation of the potential
of algal biofuels, especially for developing countries such as India. It is therefore vital that,
for large-scale algal cultivation, we obtain a realistic estimate of potential algal biofuels that
can be raised sustainably in India considering the above limitations. The objectives of the
present study are thus to estimate the potential to sustainably raise algae and algal biofuels in
India and determine the mitigation potential of such a possibility. An attempt is also made to
determine the required technologies, potential adaptation needs, list sustainability determinants,
etc. of the above options.
2 Hydrocarbon fuel needs for India
In India, like many developing countries, the development process depends upon PDF. Urban
transport system has become increasingly dependent upon PDF (Reddy and Balachandra
2012), agricultural practices have become increasingly mechanized and PDF dependent
(Baruah and Bora 2008; Figs. 1 and 2) which is expected to rise and remain high (Singh
2006). On the one side, oil and gas as fuels (45 % of total energy) is considered vital to
development (transport sector -MoPNG 2007, Figs. 1 and 2 where crude oil consumption has
reached 180 million tons of oil equivalent, Mtoe). On the other, about 3040 % of the primary
energy comes from biomass and therefore its utilization and cultivation can be coupled to
simultaneous algal biofuel production (Chanakya et al. 2009; 2012 >80 % of PDF is imported).
The increasing trends of crude oil prices have increased efforts to identify cost-effective and
renewable energy alternatives, especially going towards a global trend for biofuels (Khan et al.
2009) Figs. 3 and 4.
One approach to continued use of PDF is to sequester large quantities of carbon (C) to offset
the increasing level of CO
2
emissions while functioning at current level of PDF use. This
strategy requires adoption of C-sequestering technologies, minimizing fossil-fuel dependency
thereby fostering environmental and economic sustainability (Prasad and Elnashaie 2004;
Brennan and Owende 2010; Singh et al. 2011). It is anticipated that India and other developing
countries will soon attempt to reduce their C footprints and emission of GHGs through PDF
reduction and C-sequestration. Biofuels are then considered C-neutral/C-negative and can play
a critical role in meeting targets to replace PDF transportation fuels (Yuan et al. 2008). Liquid
fuels used in transport sector can then directly be replaced by these clean C-neutral biofuels
Mitig Adapt Strateg Glob Change (2013) 18:113136 115
such as algal biodiesel or methane (Carere et al. 2008; Escobar et al. 2009; Singh et al. 2011; Pant
et al. 2010). In recent years, there has been increased usage of liquid biofuel in the transport
sector because of various policies to safeguard energy security and mitigate GHG emissions
(IEA 2007).
Estimates of the mitigation potential have been made from primary data on land area and
land use, water resources and rainfall patterns, etc. available at various government and non-
government databases. The productivity data of various algal species of India has been
compiled from various published sources starting from the period of extensive use of blue-
green algae to current marine algae on shallow coastal waters. However, even though there is
plenty of information of algal occurrence and distribution, there is very little data on growth
and productivities under laboratory and field conditions of India. We therefore rely largely
on our own field and laboratory estimates arising from studies on algal growth in river, lake
and wastewaters as well as from personal communications from contemporaries. Apart from
this there is little experience in India on growing green algae for biofuels green algae in
paddy fields or in wastewater treatment plants have generally been treated as weeds
partaking of the natural fertility of the niche. This suggests, among others, the need for
in-depth research in this area.
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
%

E
n
e
r
g
y

S
u
p
p
l
y
1998 2002 2007 2011 2025
Coal Oil Gas
Fig. 1 Source-wise distribution of typical fossil fuel derived energy supply in India (Adapted from Technical
Note on Energy, Planning Commission, Govt. of India, 19981999)
0
40
80
120
160
200
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
M
i
l
l
i
o
n

t
o
n
n
e
Crude Oil Consumption
Fig. 2 Crude oil consumption data which has been projected beyond 2007 using a 5.5 % growth annual
growth rate (MoPNG 2007 Govt. of India)
116 Mitig Adapt Strateg Glob Change (2013) 18:113136
3 Advantages of algal biofuels
Green algae have been identified as a potential source of renewable biofuel since the 1960s
(Oswald and Golueke 1960; Benemann et al. 1977). Algae comprising of both micro and
macro forms have the potential to generate significant quantities of biomass and oil (lipids)
suitable for conversion to biodiesel and other fuels. Algal species have higher growth rates
under natural conditions and higher biomass productivities compared to oil-seed crops in
terms of land area requirement. For example, most crop plants do not have adequate leaf area
or light harvesting capability for the first half of their crop life i.e. up to 4560 d light
interception by crop plants are less than 50 % (Lal et al. 1998, 1999). Algal growth can reach
high densities to achieve greater levels of light harvest within a few days and are hence
considered economic and efficient. They reduce net GHG emissions when used as replacement
for fossil fuels (Benemann and Oswald 1996; Sheehan et al. 1998; Huntley and Redalje 2007;
Schenk et al. 2008; Chisti 2008; Rittmann 2008; Dismukes et al. 2008; Brune et al. 2009;
Brennan and Owende 2010; Stephens et al. 2010) (Fig. 5).
Various biofuel feed stocks potentially available from algae are amenable for direct use or
may be processed further to gas or liquid biofuels by several bio-chemical and thermo-
chemical processes (Rittmann 2008; Amin 2009; Demirbas 2009; Brennan and Owende
2010). Harvested algae may also be dried and burnt for direct energy recovery (Kadam
2002). Avariety of thermo-chemical conversion methods have been visualized e.g. pyrolysis,
gasification, liquefaction and hydrogenation of the algal biomass to yield oil/gas (liquid and
gaseous) biofuels (McKendry 2002a, b; Miao and Wu 2004). Therefore much of the technologies
of fuel conversion from solid to liquid and solid-gasliquid through various catalytic conversions
can also be applied to algal biofuels. The biochemical conversion processes include fermentation
and anaerobic digestion of the algal biomass resulting in bio-ethanol/bio-`butanol, methane and
biohydrogen (McKendry 2002a, Melis 2002). Lipids (mainly Tri-Acyl-Glycols (TAG)) can be
extracted and purified from algae and later transesterified to biodiesel (Miao and Wu 2006; Chisti
36%
9%
51%
2%
2%
Coal Oil Gas Hydro Nuclear
Fig. 3 Distribution energy sour-
ces in the energy basket of India
(Planning Commision of India,
2006)
50%
11%
20%
7%
5%
7%
Transport Industry
Plantation Power generation
Private sales Miscellaneous services
Fig. 4 Sectoral energy use in In-
dia (Planning Commission of In-
dia, 2006)
Mitig Adapt Strateg Glob Change (2013) 18:113136 117
2007; Hu et al. 1998). Biodiesel generation fromalgae is considered to have a higher oil production
potential compared to oil seeds (Sheehan et al. 1998; Chisti 2007).
Cultivation of algae does not necessarily need prime agricultural land and can be grown
under desert like conditions using brackish and saline waters that are unfit for terrestrial
crops the water used for algal cultivation does not compete for agriculturally important
activities (Fig. 6). Algae derived bio-fuels (ADBF) could thus be raised without obvious
threats to food security of the region. One such illustration that is often quoted is that using
only 0.49 % of land area of USA, all its PDF needs could be met through raising algae and
converting it to ADBF. Similarly, the use of marine and salt tolerant algal species makes
cultivation in open seas possible without affecting food security issues of a land (Ben-Amotz
and Avron 1983).
Research carried out with a broad purpose of sequestering large quantities of C (as
microalgae that settle to the bottom of the ocean) by iron (Fe) and nutrient fertilization at
the sea surface has also triggered research on the possibilities to use micro and macro algae
in various shallow seas as well as for algal biofuels (Smetacek and Nicol 2005) promising
algal cultivation for biofuels with C-capture. Firstly, sequestering C generated from nearby
Fig. 5 A 1000 L raceway pond supporting the growth of various algae including Botryococcus mahabali
species used at CFTRI, Mysore
Fig. 6 The dense algal (Euglena
sp.) growth at the sewage treat-
ment plant at Vidyaranyapuram,
Mysore (India)
118 Mitig Adapt Strateg Glob Change (2013) 18:113136
coal fired power plants provide both a low cost source of CO
2
as well as to some degree
offset cultivation costs (Borowitzka 1999). A lot of promise of improved strains and
increased lipid accumulation has emerged from research around the world making this
promise much more attractive (Chisti 2007; Chisti 2008; Ramachandra et al. 2009; Khan
et al. 2009; Singh et al. 2011). Towards this direction much of the research here has been
focused on screening oil rich algae and finding suitable growth conditions for greater oil
yields (Hu et al. 2008; Griffiths and Harrison 2009). There has been a large extent of studies
to identify biochemical environments that trigger accumulations of neutral lipids such as
TAGs in algal cells for example nutrient stress as N and P limitation (Li et al. 2008; Converti
et al. 2009; Rodolfi et al. 2009; Dean et al. 2010) and Fe limitation (Li et al. 2008) etc. A
major limitation of this approach is the decreased biomass productivity of cells. Under such
conditions, in spite of high lipid yields the net lipid productivity is low when measured as g
lipid harvested/m
2
/d (Griffiths and Harrison 2009). Therefore, as a strategy it is suggested to
have higher biomass yield than high lipid content of algal cells (achieved usually by
inducing stress conditions). Higher biomass yield can pave ways for other possible routes
of energy generation using many other biofuels by employing various other bio-chemical
processes. As discussed later on in this article, India has significant area of wasteland that
is believed to have the potential for algal biofuel production.
4 The potential for sustainable algal biofuel production in India
One of the most prominent advantages of algae is their adaptability to grow in extreme
conditions and even polluted environments. Even in nature they grow at high cell densities
up to 10
7
cells/ml (Chow et al. 1999) in nutrient rich waters and therefore can be grown in
conditions with minimal freshwater requirement compared other land-based biofuel crops.
While growing in nutrient and organic rich polluted waters, algae are known to absorb large
quantities of polluting plant nutrients and thereby strip the polluted waters off these common
pollutants. Many algae grow well in a variety of salt concentrations (halo-tolerant) and even
dominate at higher salt concentrations (brackish waters; Rodolfi et al. 2009; Takagi et al.
2006). Wastewaters are equally good options as feedstock for algal-products (algal biomass
and algal biofuels). For a long time it is well known that microalgae are the key players in
the treatment of domestic wastewaters in oxidation ponds and ditches (popular in Indian
towns) where the growth and function of algae are poorly controlled. Algae have been
deployed and utilised for low-cost and environmentally friendly wastewater treatment
compared to other more commonly used energy intensive treatment processes (de la Noue
et al. 1992; Green et al. 1995; Oswald et al. 1957; Pittman et al. 2011; Woertz et al. 2009;
Chinnasamy et al. 2010). Although these processes are algae dependent, algal biomass is not
utilized economically.
In developing countries there is a growing consensus on the enormity of wastewater
generation and at the same time the technologies available to treat them are expensive
(Gasperi et al. 2008; discussed later). The N and P concentrations of municipal wastewaters
of large metros of India range from 30100 ppm and 1045, respectively, (Chanakya et al.
2006; Chanakya and Sharatchandra 2008; Mahapatra et al. 2011a); over 1000 ppm in
agricultural wastewaters (de la Noue et al. 1992; Gonzalez et al. 1997; Wilkie and Mulbry
2002) 12swine/piggery wastewaters (An et al. 2003). In India, in the past agricultural waste-
waters rich in nutrients were almost always reused on land enabling nutrient recovery. Further,
agricultural practices have become mechanized, market centric and labour cost sensitive,
therefore smaller proportions of agricultural wastewater are recycled on the farms and most
Mitig Adapt Strateg Glob Change (2013) 18:113136 119
of it is discharged, e.g. coffee pulping wastewater (Chanakya and de Alwis 2004; Chanakya et
al. 2005). Algae being rapid assimilators of nutrients, they effectively growin these nutrient rich
environments and therefore it makes them the most suitable candidates for sustainable and low-
cost wastewater treatment (Hoffmann 1998; Mallick 2002; de-Bashan and Bashan 2010; Khan
et al. 2009; Singh et al. 2011; Chinnasamy et al. 2010) with simultaneous algal biofuel
generation potential (Benemann et al. 1977; Oswald and Golueke 1960). When grown in such
wastewaters, nutrients needs of the algae are available not merely at a low cost but quite often
the generator of wastewaters would pay a price for treating the wastewater. The nutrients would
then be available at a notionally negative price, at least for the present.
5 Algae cultivation systems under Indian conditions and their potential productivities
Cost effectiveness and better resilience have been the key characteristics of open pond based
algal systems compared to photobioreactors. The open ponds are usually reported to be
dominated by two to six species of microalgae with a range of evolutionary advantages;
rapid growth, resistance to predators, tolerance to high levels of dissolved oxygen (Maeda et
al. 1995). Open pond system is 10 times less expensive compared to photobioreactors
(Sheehan et al. 1998). Raceways are characterized by low-cost and low productivity
compared to photobioreactors. In tropical countries such as India, photobioreactors need
energy intensive cooling and is avoided in open ponds. At water depths of 1015 cm a total
biomass of 1 g dry wt/L at a productivity of 60100 mg/L/day has been reported (Pulz
2001). When considering large scale cultivation microalgae can be cultivated in the flat plain
regions and coastal areas of India. The open pond systems needs to be encouraged for algal
biomass culture to achieve high and sustained growth rates and oil yields essential for algal-
based biofuels
Mass cultivation of algae in India dates back to race-way pond based cultivation of
Spirulina for food and essential metabolites (Venkataraman and Becker 1985; Venkatamaran
1986). Studies involving the growth of the oilagenous algae Botryococcus mahabali in
raceway ponds gave productivities of 1.01.5 g/L with total hydrocarbon content of 14 %
(Dayananda et al. 2010), 9 g/m
2
/d (unpublished data), and also provided long chain fatty
acids (C21-C23, Dayananda et al. 2006). In another case the fat content of 22 % (w/w) with
palmitic and oleic as major fatty acids (Dayananda et al. 2007b) has been achieved. A
synthetic media with 16:8 h light:dark cycle gave 3346 % hydrocarbon (Dayananda et al.
2007a). Optimum concentrations of di-hydrogen potassium phosphate, potassium nitrate,
magnesium sulphate and ferric citrate increase biomass up to 0.65 g/L with 50.6 % (w/w)
hydrocarbon in 30 d (Dayananda et al. 2005). The studies from the wastewater treatment
systems in Mysore and Bangalore reveal biomass productivities of 9.1512.6 g/m
2
/d
(unpublished CST, study).
In the case of marine algae, commercial cultivation of a macrophyte, Kappaphacus
alvarezii, originated in Philippines in 1960 (Doty and Alvarez 1975). Since then countries
such as Japan, Indonesia, Tanzania, Fiji, Kiribati, Hawaii and South Africa cultivate this
species on large scale (Rao et al. 2008). In India cultivation of this seaweed was initiated at
Mandapam in South Eastern India (Eswaran et al. 2002). It is increasingly being cultivated
around Rameshwaram providing up to 30 g/m
2
/d (Sea6, per. Comm.; locally called Pepsi
Paasi). A few experiments on cultivation of K alvarezi in tidal pools were carried out at
Okha during 199495 (Mairh et al. 1995) and Rao et al. (2008) attempted to cultivate this
seaweed in the open sea at three localities viz. Mithapur, Okha and Beyt Dwarka and were
successful. Saltwater cultivation of macro-algae has also been focused on products such as
120 Mitig Adapt Strateg Glob Change (2013) 18:113136
carrageenan, etc. and fetches a high price (Vijayalakshmi 2003; Krishnamurthy 2005) and
has a large extent of useful fatty acids (Fayaz et al. 2005).
6 Sustainability issues of extensive algal biofuel cultivation
The sustainability of extensive algal cultivation for biofuel in this case is challenged by
several factors and the important ones are as follows.
a. Access to and availability of land for algae cultivation
b. Water sources of algal cultivation
c. Nutrient sources and supply
d. Secondary wastes and environmental impacts pollutants and other wastes
6.1 Access to and availability of land for algae cultivation
In most of the developing countries availability of cultivable land for alternative uses are low
and generally have a lot of competing uses. This is also true for wastelands where land is
wasted either because of extreme levels of soil erosion or because of a hostile and arid climate.
A lot of earlier research of the cultivation of woody biomass on wastelands indicates that out of
a total land area of 328 Mha about 160 million is under the plough for field crops and about
60 Mha form various types of potentially usable wastelands (Planning Commission 1998).
Further, as shown later on, much of these wastelands generally occur in areas where the
precipitation is poor and there are usually no sources of non-agricultural water, as has been
visualized for other countries, e.g. US (Savage 2011). This suggests that it is required that crop
lands that can support algal cultivation needs to be used in the same manner and strategy as is
done in multiple cropping or multi-tier cropping to enable the same land to be used both for crop
growth as well as for algal cultivation while ensuring that they do not compete with each other
and conflict sustainability goals. This option is discussed below.
A large tract of land in the Rann of Kutch area (about 3 Mha) occurs as a highly saline
land with sparse population and highly sodic soils where the ground water, due to geological
reasons, is more saline than seawater (Dhargalkar and Untwale 1991). Much of these lands
are flat, lie at low altitudes above sea level, and therefore make excellent low cost and non-
competitive land resource on which algal biomass could be grown without causing any
threat to food security. A small part of this land is already used in salt manufacture where
highly saline ground water is evaporated to make salt. The land is generally unfit to support
general crops. Almost all of this 3 Mha is therefore potentially available throughout the year
for algal cultivation using seawater. Several halotolerant species have been observed to have
high lipid accumulation and biomass productivity (Rodolfi et al. 2009). These species can be
grown in non-arable and wastelands by pumping saline water either from the sea or that
present below ground as ground water. Many marine species have been screened for their
lipid content and lipid productivities. Species such as Nannochloropsis and Tetreselmis were
found highly promising (Rodolfi et al. 2009). In a comparative study of freshwater and
marine algae, it was observed that the lipid content of marine algal species was around 24
and 28 % for N-deficient and N-replete cultures, respectively (Griffiths and Harrison 2009).
These had an average doubling time of 19 h (, specific. growth rate00.88/d). Among the
marine algae the most productive strains were the Tetraselmis suecica with lipid productivity
99 mg/l/d, biomass productivity 0.59 mg/l/d, lipid content of 17 % followed by
Mitig Adapt Strateg Glob Change (2013) 18:113136 121
Nannochloropsis salina with lipid productivity 82 mg/l/d, biomass productivity 0.27 mg/l/d,
lipid content of 31 % followed by Nannochloris sp. with lipid productivity 77 mg/l/d,
biomass productivity 0.23 mg/l/d, lipid content of 28 % followed by Pavlova lutheri with
lipid productivity 75 mg/l/d, biomass productivity 0.31 mg/l/d, lipid content of 36 % followed
by Phaeodactylum tricornutum with lipid productivity 72 mg/L biomass productivity 0.34 mg/
l/d, lipid content of 26 % (Ackman et al. 1968; Parrish and Wangersky 1987; Sukenik et al.
1993; Hu and Gao 2003; Griffiths and Harrison 2009). Although adequate data for Indian
species does not exist, it appears that the marine algae in sodic lands is a good option
especially for an area such as Kachch, Gujarat, Western India.
India has a very large area of land under flooded paddy cultivation. Out of about 42 Mha of
land under paddy cultivation, nearly half of it is under flooded irrigation method of cultivating
paddy crop (Table 1). It is difficult to generalize, area wise, the practice of and the extent of
water held on the land for paddy crop cultivation (flooding or non-flooding type). This varies
significantly within a region and even a village. However, three to four types of cultivation
practices are possible rainfed upland, rainfed with partial flooding, irrigated with constant
flooding and deep water paddy. Only the last two types have a sensible potential to raise a
simultaneous algal crop. Further, only irrigated paddy with constant flooding makes current
economic sense to raise a simultaneous algal crop because it is possible to raise algae for about
3060 d giving at least 48 simple cycles of algal harvest (at 7 d intervals). The zones of India,
its states and districts of Karnataka state where flooded irrigation is practiced for paddy
cultivation are presented in Fig. 7 and Table 1 along with the total cultivated area.
In most areas of flooded paddy cultivation, land is flooded well before the paddy crop is
planted and also from the time of transplanting the paddy seedling to about the 4560th day
(age of crop) the vegetation is sparse and much of the water surface is open to sky i.e. the
leaf area covering the land area Leaf Area Index (LAI) is still quite low as seedlings are still
small. It is well known that up to the 60th day, light interception by the paddy plant is less
than 50 % of the solar radiation. Thus, since a lot of incident sunlight falls on water surface,
it is potentially possible to grow various species of algae during the early part of the paddy
crop and rapidly harvest them for local extraction of algal crude, biogas and recycling of
nutrients back to the soil of the current paddy crop. In this way, algae can be cultivated
without interfering with the crop growth and the same piece of paddy land could be used
twice without interference with the main crop. In low land areas of paddy cultivation, in
lands that receive runoff from paddy lands upstream, algal growth is often very high. These
algae are often considered weeds that eat into the nutrition provided for the crop plant e.g.
delta area of Kaveri or Krishna rivers in the east coast (Roger et al. 1985). Thus under such
circumstances, when algae is cultivated only for the first 60 days of crop life, there is a
potential for nearly 1618 Mha for algae cultivation area wherein cultivation is possible for
Table 1 Region-wise potential for flooded paddy and consequent simultaneous algal cultivation under
flooded paddy conditions
Region / State Total area Continuously
flooded paddy
Intermittently
flooded paddy
Deepwater
paddy
Upland
paddy
Eastern Region 18.583 5.694 8.610 1.639 2.640
Southern Region 7.987 5.070 1.892 0.24 0.785
Northern Region 8.277 3.991 3.174 0.233 0.879
Western Region 7.385 1.742 3.652 0.322 1.669
Total 42.232 16.497 17.328 2.434 5.97
122 Mitig Adapt Strateg Glob Change (2013) 18:113136
2 months (Fig. 7, Tables 1 and 2). This period of 60 d algal growth on 18 Mha could, for
purposes of calculation, be equated to about 3 Mha equivalent of year round cultivation of
algae.
A large part of the shallow seas around the coast line are also potential areas for
cultivation of the larger macro-algae. In many areas these form a rich fishery and are
therefore not suitable for algal cultivation. On the other hand, due to various reasons
such as over-fishing, the fish catch in a large part of the shallow seas on the eastern
coastline of India is very low and is no longer economic to fish. These areas are quite
suitable for cultivation of macro-algae. The fisher-folk who are in debt due to low
catch have now switched to cultivation of anchored macro-algae (Chanakya et al.
2012) Although macro-algae such as sargassum, Kappaphacus, etc. do not have high
lipid content, they could still provide a substantial quantity of biogas (energy) upon
anaerobic fermentation as well as a host of economically useful by-products. Biogas is
produced from the unused and wasted portions and nutrients returned to the farmed
areas to ensure sustainability. There is however, very little estimate of this potential
geographical area and yields of macro-algae. Considering the vast coastline (about
4000 km) and the continental shelf, an area of another 3 Mha could be assumed as
available of algal cultivation (75 % of 4000 km coastline up to 10 km).
0 10 %
10 30 %
30 60 %
Above
60%
Fig. 7 State-wise distribution of irrigated (flooded) paddy in India (in Mha, insertions). The inset map of the
State of Karnataka shows the district-wise irrigated area under flooded paddy conditions. The numerals
inserted in the districts suggest 000 ha of land under flooded paddy cultivation in each of the districts. Thus
we see that a large part South and Eastern India is suitable for algal cultivation in this mode
Mitig Adapt Strateg Glob Change (2013) 18:113136 123
6.2 Water sources for algal cultivation
One of the simplest methods of cultivation would be through open water ponds on the sea or
land. Open water surfaces lose large quantities of water (total daily evaporation, measured in
mm/d) that could range between 5 mmin rainy and winter months in India and around 10 mm/d
on a hot summer day (Central Water Commission 2006). Considering that India in general has a
water deficit budget where the total evaporation possible in a year generally exceeds the annual
rainfall, the different regions in India have a varying degree of aridity. Second, as most of the
useful and nearly flat land is already cultivated, a potential option to cultivate algae on the same
farmed land can be realized only after a crop is grown even if there is a hope for surplus water
in the region. In this way algal cultivation need not be done instead of a food crop and threaten
the food security of the region. Various parts of the country could then be divided into zones
where there is more than 150 d of acceptable water balance (90120 d crop+3060 d algal
cultivation), 150210 d (3060 d algae), 210270 (two agricultural crops or one field crop+
90 d algae cultivation) and finally locations with >270 d of positive water balance. Figure 8
shows potential areas where there is a likelihood of surplus of water after cultivating a normal
field crop. As the north east and the northern Himalayan regions are mountainous, they are not
included in the projection. For the rest of the country, only a small part of the geographical area -
the dark hatched area and the dark blue areas have the potential climate to cultivate algae in the
open using natural water sources that may be collected in the area. In this projection we attempt
to show that when we cultivate algae in these zones, the added water burden of evaporation of
water from open algal ponds will not lead to water deficit conditions (water security) and
therefore make the overall process unsustainable. Greater effort is however, required to
segregate the overlapped paddy area and potentially wet area indicated above and is therefore
not included in the mitigation potential estimates.
6.3 Nutrient sources and supply
Algae like most crop plants require plant nutrients such as N,P,K and other micro nutrients.
Earlier research suggests that between 0.3 and 0.5 kg N, 0.1 kg P and 0.1 kgK are required
for producing 1 kg algal biofuel (lipid;). The annual crude oil consumption has been
increasing gradually from about 90 Mtoe (1998) to about 156 Mtoe (2010; Figs. 1 and 2,
only transport fuel considered). Assuming a need for an annual requirement 160 Mtoe algal
crude, the fertilizer required for producing algal biofuels would be 80, 16 and 16 Mt of N, P
and K, respectively. Even if we consider that the fertilizer use efficiency would be as high as
50 %, the annual additional NPK needs at the national level would be 160, 32 and 32 Mt of
NPK. This would greatly burden the already high level of fossil fuel dependence for N and
other fertilizers in India. Other sustainable alternatives need to be found.
Several blue-green algae and green algae have been cultivated in paddy fields in the past
largely to raise the N content of the system (Singh and Singh 1987; Singh 1981, 1982,
1985). It is generally reported that up to 40 kg N/ha could be fixed by these algae and Azolla
(Singh and Singh 1987). The most successful strategy was to feed the algae/Azolla with P and
a small quantity of N when these were inoculated into the paddy land (Bisoyi and Singh 1988).
Azolla or blue green algae grew till about 60 d of crop life after which they became shaded.
These algae were then trampled and pushed back into the soil where they decomposed rapidly
to provide nutrients to the reigning paddy crop. The key strategy was that the P and Kand some
N needed for the paddy crop was provided to the Azolla. This in turn grew and when trampled
and pushed back into soil around the 60th day of the paddy crop, it released the locked
nutrients to the paddy crop later on. This strategy greatly reduced the N needed because the
124 Mitig Adapt Strateg Glob Change (2013) 18:113136
moderately decomposing Azolla ensured most of the released nutrients were picked up by the
paddy crop in the very same way as slow release fertilizers. This reduced the potential losses
that would have arisen from the use of urea (>75 %N lost, Chanakya and Sharatchandra 2008).
The very same strategy and practices now needs to be adopted to raise algae on paddy lands
such that no additional nutrients need to be provided for raising algae. However, the energy
content of algae is recovered before it is to be sent for fertilization.
7 Algae in domestic wastewaters
Urban and peri-urban domestic wastewaters in developing countries have been considered to be
a large source of plant nutrients that on the one hand enters traditional water bodies and causes
eutrophication and water pollution and on the other hand it disables the water body from
< 150d
150-210 days
210-270 days
Fig. 8 Wet regions of India where algal cultivation is technically feasible in terms of adequate availability/
supply of water after meeting a single or double crop is determined as a function of the period for which the
cumulative open pan evaporation (OPE) is less than the total annual precipitation measured in days
Mitig Adapt Strateg Glob Change (2013) 18:113136 125
carrying out its normal ecological functions (Chanakya et al. 2006; Chanakya and Sharatchandra
2008; Mahapatra et al. 2011a, b, c). This is largely because cities are rapidly urbanizing and
municipal bodies are generally unable to cope up with the requirements for treating wastewaters
(Mahapatra et al. 2011a). Much of the wastewater and partially treated wastewater then flows
along water courses to reach traditional water harvesting tanks in the upland or other water
courses nearby in lowlands (Mahapatra et al. 2011c). According to the recent reports of the
Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) the waste water generation in the country around 40
billion litres per day mostly from urban areas and about 2030 % of the generated wastewater
receives treatment for C removal. Hardly any of the treatment plants carry out removal of the N
and P nutrients from wastewaters. Further, most of the houses in emerging urban areas generally
use soak pits and therefore only a fraction of the sewage generated flows out of towns and cities in
sewage channels (Chanakya and Sharatchandra 2008). However, when urbanizing areas develop
and become dense, most of them become connected to underground sewage lines and therefore it
is appropriate to assume that in the near future all the sewage generated will flow out of the city
and will require treatment for 100 % of this discharge capacity (Table 3).
The per capita water supply in India is 188.73 (measured as liters per capita per day, lpcd,
CPCB 2011) and sewage generation is 138 lpcd indicating the enormity of the source. When
we account for all the losses between sewage generation at the household and to the point
where it reaches the treatment plants: losses due to evaporation, seepage in open unlined
channels and infiltration into the ground, around 80 lpcd of sewage reaches various types of
receiving water-bodies causing pollution and eutrophication. There is potential to reverse
this situation by growing various algae in these wastewaters. Sewage degrading anaerobically
in water bodies generates methane. Assuming a daily discharge of 0.06 kg (dry) per capita,
350 L biogas potential/kg waste, 60 % methane in biogas and 80 % conversion efficiency this
would lead to a daily methane generation of 10.3 g methane per capita. In order to account for
other wastes, especially from the kitchen and bathrooms, entering sewage, the above
biochemical methane potential (BMP) from the BOD level (250 mg/L, 80lpcd) discharged
the estimated methane generation in sewage systems would be similar (9.6 g CH
4
/cap/d).
When algae are grown on such wastewaters, firstly this avoids the methane likely to be
generated because algae (and bacteria) consume the decomposable matter instead and no
Table 2 Estimation of land area available for the cultivation of various types of algae and the potential algal
and biofuel yields from various cultivation options. (Superscripts #1-Paddy land area of 18 Mha with potential
of about 2 month cultivation is annualized to 3 Ma equivalent of round the year cultivation, #2-is a large saline
affected land and close to the sea and is therefore possible to raise salt tolerant algae,-#3-Coastal areas where
sea depth is up to 5 m and fishery is poor, 4-backwaters in various coastal areas where water is usually saline/
brackish and 5. Urban wastewater, predominantly sewage with 4060 mg/L N and 820 mg/L P etc
No. Location Potential
cultivation
area (Mha)
Potential
productivity
(low, t/hayr)
Potential
productivity
(high, t/ha/yr)
Potential
productivity
(avg, t/ha/yr)
Algal
Crude
(Mtoe/yr)
By-
product
Mtoe
Total
yields
(Mtoe/yr)
1 Paddy land
1
3.0 30 75 45 27 43 60
2 Kachch
2
3.0 30 60 45 27 43 60
3 Sea Shelf
3
3.0 10 NA 10 - - -
4 Back waters 2.1 15 NA 10 - - -
5 Urban waste
water (as
billion m
3
)
60 1015 NA 10 0.36 0.43 0.79
Total 9.0 54.36 86.43 120.8
126 Mitig Adapt Strateg Glob Change (2013) 18:113136
methane is released. Algal systems are being practised in wastewater treatment either
through the use of stabilisation (oxidation) pond based systems and recently shallow
well-mixed suspended algal raceway type oxidation ponds with mechanical mixing (Green
et al. 1995; Hoffmann 1998). As organic matter within sewage decomposes and is consumed
by algae and bacteria, a lot of surplus nutrients are released such as N~40 mg/L and P~
520 mg/L (Mahapatra et al. 2011a). The algal communities in sewage fed water bodies in
Bangalore have been reported to be responsible for 76 %N and 60 %C removal and even
higher at other locations (Gonzalez et al. 1997; Masseret et al. 2000; Aslan and Kapdan
2006; Ruiz-Marin et al. 2010; Mahapatra et al. 2011a). Algae are efficient in removing N, P,
organic toxicants and toxic metals from wastewater (Mallick 2002; Ahluwalia and Goyal
2007) and hence are key players for nutrient remediation particularly during the secondary and
tertiary treatment phases of wastewater. These nutrients stimulate a fresh growth of algae and
from this additional algal biomass can be raised such that most of the nutrients are removed
fromthe water and water is purified for further use. In this way, 0.060.2 g dry algae/l/d or 10 g
dry algae/m
2
/d (depending upon the depth) can be harvested from sewage ponds. Figure 6
shows the dense green algal growth in a sewage treatment plant in South India.
The current potential of algal biomass and therefore algal biofuel from wastewater is
illustrated from a study carried out on the lakes of Bangalore (Karnataka state). Partially
treated sewage, about 500 million liters per day (MLD), flows into two cascading man-made
water bodies Bellandur and Varthur lakes located in the Southeast of greater Bangalore region,
Karnataka state, India. This is illustrated in Fig. 9. Partially treated sewage enters Bellandur
Lake first at a carbon, nitrogen and phosphorous (CNP) load of 110, 80 and 30 ppm (respec-
tively) and exits the Bellandur Lake with more than 50 % reduction in load along with a large
growth of micro-algae. Sewage flowing through Bellandur Lake has an estimated residence
time of about 7 d. The community assemblage of algae varies with season. The outlet of this
lake feeds into a second water body, the Varthur Lake, with a residence time of 5.5 d and exits
this lake with a further 50 % reduction in CNP loads. The density of naturally growing algae is
high (> million cells/mL) and corresponds to an estimated 10 g/m
2
/d growth rates (at times it
can reach up to 24 g/m
2
/d, unpublished field data) although the lipid content is not very
high. This 365 ha water body, Bellandur Lake, is estimated to yield about 13,000 t algal
biomass/annum. Out of this, assuming only 40 % is harvestable through natural extrac-
tion processes; it still yields ~5000 t algal biomass/yr. With current cultivation practices
Table 3 The magnitude of wastewater generation from various sizes of towns and cities in India (CPCB
2006)
City types Population
size
No. of
cities
Wastewater
generation(MLD)
Treatment plant
(Installed capacity, MLD)
%age
Treatment
Metropolitan cities >10 Lakhs
*
35 15,644.0 8040 50 %
Class-I cities
1
>1 Lakh 498 35,558.12 11553.68 32 %
Class-II cities
2
10, 000 to 1
lakh
410 2,696.2 233.7 10 %
Cities at Ganga Basin
3
20 million 113 2,637.7 1174.4 44.2 %
Total 56,538.0
*Lakh generally refers to 100,00000.1 million. In the Indian classification of towns and cities,
1 - Class I cities (cities with Population >1, 00,000)
2 - Class II cities (cities with Population 10,0001, 00,000)
3 - Ganga Basin - Population living around Ganga river basin in the north and north-eastern parts of India
Mitig Adapt Strateg Glob Change (2013) 18:113136 127
and an average potential lipid content of 20 % this is estimated to provide a potential of
1000 t of algal lipid (crude) from this water body annually. It is therefore anticipated that
with improved strains and harvesting techniques the algal biofuel extractable becomes
much more attractive. At present this system avoids a treatment cost of about Rs (Indian
Rupees) 2.5 Million/d (@Rs5/kL) and has the potential to generate 1000 t
oe
algal crude/
yr; recovers plant nutrients (40 tpd N, 15 tpd P) and the residue (after oil extraction) will
still have an energy potential of 1600 t
oe
as direct combustion of residual algae or
1200 t
oe
as biogas (@75 % decomposability). Thus from each open sewage treatment
algal pond, it is possible to extract 2200 t
oe
of algal biofuel totalling about 6600 t for a
500 MLD input of sewage. Thus for a country level efficient re-use of wastewater by an
algal biofuel pond based treatment system it will be possible to generate about 0.8 Mt
oe
of algal biofuels. Such an effort not only enables domestic wastewater to be put to good
use but also enables rapid reuse of wastewater, which is often the need in a developing
country situation. The recovery of plant nutrients for reuse in crop systems is another
important bonus not accounted for in the energetic or mitigation calculations.
An illustration of the potential options for algal cultivation in flooded paddy fields is shown
in Fig. 10. Algal biomass can be transformed to biofuels through a wide range of technologies
starting from direct burning, biomethanation, briquetting, lipid extraction coupled with bio-
methanation etc. However, lipid extraction from algal biomass as a feedstock for biodiesel
production will be by far the most promising option, particularly when there exists cogeneration
of methane from the residual algal biomass remaining after lipid extraction (Brune et al. 2009)
and is coupled to the return of nutrients in algal mass to paddy soils ensuring high nutrient use
efficiency by the crop system and overall sustainability. Simple and energy efficient technol-
ogies for algal harvest at farm and village scales are not available as of today. However, it is
suggested that algal species that tend to float up during afternoon or those that settle at night (or
both) are good traits that can be used to transfer the algal mass into a settling pond and create a
low energy algae harvest system. Algal biomass concentrated thus could be sent for village
level extraction and biodiesel production. The residual non-lipid mass could then be used for
methane production and returned to paddy crop production for nutrient recovery. In this way, as
was done in the past with Azolla, plant nutrients designated for the paddy crop is only
borrowed from the next crop for use by the current algal crop and returned to the paddy crop
in time to realize normal paddy yields. In this way no additional fertilizers need to be used.
8 Mitigation potential in India
The mitigation potential of algal biofuel production has not been estimated with sufficient
clarity/accuracy for India because locations where these algal biofuels can be raised and
Fig. 9 Nutrient flow across the urban lake gradient and consequent potential for energy capture
128 Mitig Adapt Strateg Glob Change (2013) 18:113136
possible biofuel applications are still not well established and therefore can only be
determined for various possible scenarios emerging from cultivation options and related
technologies. The mitigation potential as discussed earlier in the paper emerges in three
major streams, namely,
a. Avoidance of GHG emissions from normal practices of wastewater treatment and paddy
cultivation by simultaneous algae cultivation
b. From C-capture opportunities in the vicinity of C-producing industries and utilities
(captured in algae)
c. From the production of alternative fuel streams
8.1 Avoidance of GHG emission practices by simultaneous algal cultivation
A switch over to algae based wastewater treatment system instead of the conventional systems
that emit methane would bring about a large reduction in methane emissions. Because is algae
grown in sunlight and they photosynthesize, algae prevent the growth of anaerobic (oxygen
intolerant) methanogenic bacteria while simultaneously reducing the smell of decomposing
sewage. The daily discharge of domestic wastewater is 56.5 billion liters/day and for including
future growth it is rounded to 60 billion liters per day. For an estimated 60 billion liters per day
sewage, the expected biogas production (@200 L biogas/kLsewage) would be 12 Mm
3
biogas/
d (0.00514 Mt methane and 0.108 Mt CO
2
equivalent per day or 39.4 Mt CO
2
per annum).
However, not all the sewage is expected to be collected on a daily basis and many of the septic
tank systems are expected to survive urban development efforts and sanitation measures.
Therefore taking only 60 % of urban households would be connected to sewage flow systems
the mitigation potential would be around 23.7 Mt CO
2
/annum.
A similar situation is expected to happen in paddy lands. With intense algal cultivation in
flooded paddy soil, the pH would rise to high levels (>8.5) and oxygen (O) content of water is
expected to be supersaturated at mid-day (>12 mg/L). Such highly Orich conditions of the water
during the day are not conducive for methane producing organisms to thrive. Although at night,
in the absence of Obeing added to the water by algal photosynthesis, the Olevels would fall, this
cyclic oxygenation would inhibit methane emissions from paddy fields because O is toxic to
methanogens and methanogens grow very slowly. In a situation where high intensity algal
cultivation is carried out in paddy fields methanogenesis and therefore methane emissions from
paddy soils are not expected to occur. In the past, the methane (CH
4
) efflux in planted plots
varied with the rice variety and growth stage and ranged from 426 mg/h/m
2
(Adhya et al. 1994,
2000). From an area of 18 Mha emitting between 4 and 26 mg/h/m
2
86.4561.6 kg CH
4
/ha in
crop cycle of 90 d, the net CH
4
emissions avoided and its mitigation potential is between 0.259
and 1.68 Mt CH
4
or 5.435.3 Mt CO
2e
.
Fig. 10 Schematic diagram of proposed algal cultivation in paddy fields for biofuel production
Mitig Adapt Strateg Glob Change (2013) 18:113136 129
8.2 Mitigation from C-capture opportunities in the vicinity of C-producing industries
and utilities
Much of the power generation utilities in India are coal based and therefore generate large
volumes of fossil fuel derived CO
2
. A temporary C capture in a chemically driven system
that later releases CO
2
to wastewater growing algae can significantly increase the C capture
and simultaneously produce algal biofuels. All coal based power plants maintain large ash
ponds that are covered by a layer of water that are generally alkaline with high solids
content. While this is favourable for a few algal species, the ability to dissolve CO
2
in
alkaline waters is unfavourable. This is a large potential for algal cultivation and C-capture
whose magnitude and feasibility has not been examined significantly for India and therefore
needs further research. Many of the power plants, because of their need to use large
quantities of coolant water are situated close to water bodies. Some of the newer ones have
also come up near the sea shore using seawater as coolant water. These provide immense
CO
2
fertilization potential leading to production of algal biofuels.
8.3 Algal biofuels at alternative locations and from the production of alternative fuel streams
Algal biofuels are expected to provide a decentralized production of algal crude (lipids) that
are capable of being converted to biodiesel and similar fuels addressing to a large extent the
transport fuel needs. The total algal crude production is estimated based on the current
potential for cultivation of algae providing about 15 g dry matter/m
2
/d and with a lipid
content of 20 %. At this scale of production and the current level of technology the overall
algal crude production possible is about 54 Mtoe annually and can meet only about half the
current transport fuel needs. The conversion of oil extraction residue to methane or similar
fuels is expected to generate another 86 Mtoe as biogas most suited for stationary engines or
compressed as natural gas equivalents. These values of yields are from the field and under
good cultivation practices. However, as algal strains and cultivation technology improves
this level could be increased significantly and is a key area for further research.
9 Mitigation and adaptation linkages
Climate change induced impacts and outcomes to the habitable living environments are
likely to occur over a period of time. The solutions to such changes can be either by the
adopting proper mitigative measures or adapting to it. The mitigative measures are enhanc-
ing C traps, reduction in GHG emissions, switching to green renewable, increasing vegeta-
tive cover, C sink in soils etc. (IPCC 2007). However adaptation to the changing climate can
be explained as adjustment in natural or human systems in response to actual or expected
climatic stimuli or their effects, which moderates harm or exploits beneficial opportunities
(IPCC 2001). The adaptations can be possibly anticipatory or upon encountering changes
(reactive). Adaptation is essential to survive and has been known for ages.
Production and use of algal biofuel would represent a sustainable mitigation option - in
the production and switch to algal biofuels that is likely to occur later on, there are both
mitigation and adaptation components. As discussed earlier in the paper the mitigation
potential is reasonably large and can substitute up to 50 % of the current use of petro-
fuels using the current state of art in natural algal cultivation and what is known about
converting algal crude to biofuels. Growing algae in flooded paddy lands will not only lead
to GHG emission avoidance (mitigation) but will also enhance livelihoods in rural areas by
130 Mitig Adapt Strateg Glob Change (2013) 18:113136
making agriculture more remunerative and therefore reducing pressure of outmigration from
villages. Much of this algal biofuel production technology using freshwater and paddy fields
will need a lot of socio-economic incentives to be created.
Some of the immediately needed mitigation and adaptation strategies will be
a. Currently, there is very little technology standardization at the decentralized
village scale where flooded paddy based algal biofuel will be produced and
adapted to raising algal biofuels under paddy conditions as well as under high
saline conditions of Kachch and Indias backwaters. Unless these technologies are
simplified and made available in villages, this process will not succeed and cannot
be adopted on a large scale.
b. The sustainability of algal biofuels in paddy or in saline waters require the following
i. Algae need to be harvested by simple means and with resources accessible to
paddy farmers technology for this decentralized harvesting need to be developed
and be adapted
ii. Harvested algae needs to be quickly extracted for algal crude and algal crude
preserved at the village level before cracking for ABDF
iii. Ancillary technologies to process algal extract residues to methane and nutrients
need to be ready at village scale. Such adaptation needs to be carried out for
operation at village scale
iv. Nutrients locked in algal biomass needs to be extracted and returned rapidly to farms
so that it can be returned to the paddy crop in the fields with very short cycle time in
order to enable very little nutrient starvation for the paddy crop and yields are not
affected
v. Algal crude and biomethane collection and processing systems need to be made
ready at rural nodes so that the crude cracking to ABDF is carried out at economic
scales of operation and biomethane is collected in a gas grid in a decentralized
manner.
vi. To use Kachch as a location for algal biofuel production, there is a need to
consider new land use options for Kachch with appropriate changes in land
use guidelines.
vii. Cultivation of algae in domestic wastewater, its harvest and algal crude and
by-product production will not be readily acceptable under laws governing waste-
water treatment. Many changes in guidelines will be required.
ix. Use of algal biofuels in commonly used engines is yet to be standardized and
appropriate laws governing transport fuel production, storage, distribution and use
in machinery still needs to be enacted. A Successful switch to algal biofuels is not
possible without such standardization and administrative facilitation.
x. Algal fuels need to be compatible with current engines or else adaptation kit needs
to be developed and extensively marketed
xi. The use and preference for algal biofuels need to be incentivized in many ways to
make it popular and rapidly overcome the barriers to change
10 Conclusions
The study highlights the possibility of algal cultivation and availability of land and resources for
biofuel generation and discusses its technical feasibility in corroboration with agricultural systems
Mitig Adapt Strateg Glob Change (2013) 18:113136 131
at decentralized levels. One of the key issues of algal biofuels in India is firstly the availability of
land, water and nutrient resources to primarily cultivate algae.
& To overcome this, algae can be grown as a multi-tier crop that temporarily borrows
nutrients allocated to the main paddy crop and all algae is harvested and returned to soil
very rapidly within the crop cycle. This creates a newconcept of sustainability of multi-tier,
multi-cyclic cropping.
& Two large-scale streams possible are cultivation in flooded paddy when the plants are
small and the other is in saline affected lands in many parts of India of which the Kachch
area is the single largest block.
& Mitigation potential can reach over 50 % of the current use and with improvement in
technologies; it can reach higher levels of PDF substitution.
& As various technologies involved in the overall process is still nascent, it is expected that
there will be a few barriers to large scale adoption.
& Technologies generated needs to be decentralized and remain functional at a rural scale
where most of the land to cultivate algae exists.
& Adaptation needs will be smaller in the use of algal biofuels and is likely to be more in
rapid with respect to absorption of the production technologies.
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