FACT SHEET

Agriculture and Natural Resources

AEX-651-11

Algae for Biofuels

Yebo Li, Assistant Professor and Extension Engineer
Caixia Wan, Graduate Student
Department of Food, Agricultural and Biological Engineering
The Ohio State University/Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC)

lgae are simple, plant-like organisms but do not

have roots, stems, and leaves. There are almost
300,000 alga species distributed throughout the world in
seawater, freshwater, and wastewater. Algae are typically
photosynthetic, namely fixing CO in the presence of
sunlight to manufacture their own food, but some are
heterotrophic with no requirement of light, assimilating
organic compounds such as glucose and acetic acid
as carbon sources. Most of the current research and
development efforts have focused on microalgae due to
their high growth rate and oil content.
Algae contain oils, sugars, and functional bioactive
compounds that can be used for commercial products.
Recently, special attention has been given to cultivation of
microalgae as an energy crop with the aim of replacing
traditional oil crops for biodiesel and bio-oil production.
Oil-rich microalgae species are the most productive
fuel crops, providing 10100 times higher biomass and
oil yield than land oil crops (Table 1). For example, algae
with 50% lipid content and a dry biomass productivity of
50 g/m/day can potentially produce 10,000 gallons oil/
acre/year (Pienkos, 2007). By comparison, soybeans only
produce 48 gallons oil/acre/year. Algae can be cultivated
under different climatic conditions and harvested yearround, but do not compete with arable land for food and
feed production.
Microalgae also have many potential environmental
benefits, including greenhouse gas mitigation by fixing
CO in the atmosphere, i.e., photosynthesis of CO
to fuel by sunlight, and bioremediation of wastewater
by efficiently removing nutrients (e.g., nitrogen,
phosphorous) and heavy metals.

Table 1. Comparison of potential oil yields of algae and

other oil seeds (Pienkos, 2007).
Crop

Oil yield gallon/acre

Corn

18

Cotton

35

Soybean

48

Mustard seed

61

Sunflower

102

Rapeseed/Canola

127

Jatropha

202

Oil palm

635

Algae
10g/m/day at 15% Triglycerides

1,200

50g/m/day at 50% Triglycerides

10,000

Growing algae
Algae need light, CO, water, and macro- and micronutrients for photosynthesis. Sunlight, air, and seawater
or waste water can basically meet the requirement for
algae growth. However, optimal cultivation conditions
can achieve better algae growth. For example, light wavelengths between approximately 450 nm (blue) and 650
nm (red) are usually preferred (Marsh, 2008). The light
intensity is also important as photo inhibition occurs after
exposure to too intensive light. For some algal species,

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Algae for Biofuelspage 2

a dark cycle is important for processing photosynthates

produced in a light cycle for lipid production. The typical
temperature range for algal cultivation is 2535C. CO
supplied at an optimal concentration 3501000 ppm and
flow rate is also important for maximum algae growth, as
is water salinity and macro- and micronutrients in water.
The pH of the culture media is preferred to be maintained
between 7 and 9. Mixing is required to make sure algae
are evenly exposed to light and nutrients.
Algae can be cultivated in low cost production systems
such as open ponds. This system is typically operated in
a continuous mode with a fixed supply of culture media,
water, and nutrients. Contamination is the main risk of
open systems. Cultivating algae in an enclosed bioreactor,
in which the system is strictly controlled and no contamination occurs, is an alternative to overcome the problems
with open systems. However, the high investment and
operating costs are the main problem for the enclosed
bioreactor. This system is suggested for algae cultivation
for production of high value fatty acids (e.g., eicosapentaenoic acid [EPA] and docosahexaenoic acid [DHA]).

Centrifugation can harvest most kinds of microalgae but

can damage the cell membranes due to high centrifugation speed and shear stress. Gravity sedimentation is
generally used for sewage-cultured algae recovery, but is
time consuming and requires space for settling ponds or
tanks. Compared with other recovery methods, microalgae biomass from sedimentation generally has a much
higher moisture content, which can substantially increase
the cost of biomass drying for the further downstream
process. Therefore, filtration or centrifugation preceded by
flocculation-flotation is generally adopted as the method
for microalgae biomass recovery.
Oil extraction methods used for vegetable oil extraction are suitable for microalgae oil extraction. Three
well-known oil extraction methods are press extraction,
hexane solvent extraction, and supercritical fluid extraction. Some new oil extraction methods are emerging,
including enzymatic extraction, osmotic shock, and
ultrasonic-assistant extraction.

Converting algae to biofuels and bioenergy

Algal oil can be converted to biodiesel and other fuels

via several processes (Figure 2). During transesterficaMicroalgae cell harvesting generally involves two major
tion, algal oil reacts with alcohols in the presence of a
solid-liquid separation steps. The first step, flocculation,
base catalyst to produce glycerol and biodiesel (methyl
aggregates the algal cells and improves the effectiveness
or ethyl ester). Biodiesel yield from transesterfication is
of the second step. Several methods such as filtration,
more than 90% and the biodiesel quality is comparable
centrifugation, or gravity sedimentation can be used in the
to conventional petroleum diesel (Amin, 2009). For some
second step for microalgae biomass harvest. Filtration is
algae species, the whole cell can function as a bioreactor
suitable for the large size microalgae but has low efficiency.
to directly produce fuels such as hydrogen and ethanol.
The starch-rich algae can also be
used as feedstock for fermenting
ethanol and hydrogen. Thermo
chemical conversion of oil-rich
algae can produce fuel gas and/
or bio-oil. A technology for
gasification of algal biomass
with high moisture contents
has been developed to produce
methane and hydrogen (Elliot
and Sealock, 1999). Thermal
reactions by pyrolysis, liquefaction, or hydrogenation mainly
An open pond for growing algae in Israel
convert algae to bio-oils. Algae
(Source: Seambiotic).
residues remaining after oil
Bioreactors used to grow algae
extraction or thermal conver(Source: PetroAlgae).
sion can be digested under
anaerobic conditions to produce
Figure 1. Typical algae cultivation systems (LaMonica, M. 2008a &b).
biogas for electricity.

Harvesting and processing algae

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Algae for Biofuelspage 3

Figure 2. Conversion of algae to biofuels (Revision based on Pienkos, 2007).

Future of algae for biofuel and bioenergy

Algae has the potential to be a significant source for
the biofuels described above. However, the high cost of
algae production remains a hurdle. An algal strain with
high lipid content and high growth rate, a cost-effective
cultivation system (open or closed system), and low cost
harvesting and lipid extraction systems are critical to
the future of a commercial-scale algae to fuel production system.
With depletion of petroleum-based fuel sources, rising
crude oil and gas prices, and global warming related to
use of fossil fuels, domestic production of biofuels and
bioenergy from renewable resources could become attractive. The advantages of renewable energy and products,
such as replacement of fossil fuel, biodegradability, and
reduced air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, can
outweigh disadvantages of higher current cost and lower
fuel economy. Current biodiesel production uses renewable resources but these sources face a dilemma in that
they are either competing with food supplies (i.e., oilseed
crop) or cannot meet U.S. diesel demand (i.e., waste oils).
By producing algae instead of land oil crops for biodiesel
production, farmland can be reserved for food production. Since resources for algae cultivation (e.g., water,

land, CO, sunlight, nutrients) are easily accessible, algae

have a good potential to be commercialized in the future.

References
AlgaeVenture Systems. http://www.algaevs.com
Amin, S. 2009. Review on biofuel oil and gas production
processes from microalgae. Energy Conversion and
Management. 50: 18341840.
Elliot, D.C., and Sealock, L.J. 1999. Chemical processing in
high-pressure aqueous environments: Low temperature
catalytic gasification. Trans IChemE 74: 5636.
LaMonica, M. 2008a. Joint venture to use coal emissions
to grow algae for biofuels. Available at: http://news.
cnet.com/8301-11128_3-9973649-54.html.
LaMonica, M. 2008b. Race to algae-based biodiesel heats
up. Available at: http://news.cnet.com/8301-11128_39933355-54.html.
Marsh, A.A. 2008. The use of algae. Available at: http://
www.scribd.com/doc/32918391/A-Study-Into-theCultivation-of-Algae-Presentation-2008
Pienkos, P. T. 2007. Potential for biofuels from algae.
NREL/PR-510-42414. National Renewable Energy
Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO.
Reviewed by Drs. Harold Keener and Peter Ling.

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