Abstract
Cost-effectiveness of algal biomass production for oil can be significantly improved by integrating the algal culturing with waste treatment such as commercial/agricultural wastewater treatment, carbon-dioxide/flue recovery, and production of valued by-products, such as feedstock for biogas, organic fertilizer, and proteinaceous feed for animals. This approach would require oleaginous algal strains that can out-compete a diverse array of native wild species and are least sensitive to environmental changes. Selection of algae species for biofuel robustness of species plays especially important role. A perspective of mass culturing of selectively isolated robust oleaginous algal species in wastewaters is provided here, and the challenges in growing high-end oleaginous algae in wastewater media are discussed.
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Funding provided by Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Department of Energy (via VT Sustainable Jobs Fund), NASA-EPSCoR (VT), and NSF-EPSCoR (VT) to General Systems Research LLC is greatly appreciated.
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Dahiya, A. (2012). Integrated Approach to Algae Production for Biofuel Utilizing Robust Algal Species. In: Gordon, R., Seckbach, J. (eds) The Science of Algal Fuels. Cellular Origin, Life in Extreme Habitats and Astrobiology, vol 25. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-5110-1_5
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