Green Energy to Come From Algae
With the shortage of petrochemical resources and climate change facing the world, it has therefore become important to develop CO2-neutral sustainable fuels for current global energy needs. Energy plants such as oil palm and rape have been suggested as being suitable sources of green energy as they may also be used for food production. As such, the cultivation of microalgae may be a significant contributor to the green energy supplies of the future. In order to produce green energy from microalgae, researchers have developed closed photo-bioreactors and new methods for cell disruption. Read more about Biofuel From Algae Market Potential
The biomass produced by microalgae may in turn allow the production of potential green energy resources and active substances as well as fuels such as biodiesel. During their growth process, algae take up the same amount of CO2 as they will later release when they use it for the production of green energy. As a result, green energy from algae may be produced in a CO2 neutral manner, contrary to the conventional energy carriers.
Another advantage is that as algae grow faster in environments of high carbon dioxide concentrations, they produce more biomass for the production of green energy which may be then used as an industrial resource. Moreover, in comparison to land plants, algae produce up to 5 times as much biomass per hectare and also contain 30-40% of oil usable in the production of green energy.
The plants in this current study convert green energy from the sun (solar) into biomass, and are 5 times more efficient than the plants in open ponds.
The production of algae does not only work in countries with an extremely high solar irradiation. Most algae require a maximum of 10% of the incident sunlight intensity. The Sahara offers twice as much sunlight as central Europe, but in the Sahara, the reactor contents would have to be cooled. Another advantage of the closed system is that there are drastic savings in terms of fertilizers and water required. The double use of algae in the production of food or fine chemicals and subsequently in the production of green energy from the residual biomass is also conceivable.
Scientists have more in store in the complete use of algae biomass for the production of green energy. The residual biomass that remains after extraction (60-70%) is intended to be converted into other green energy carriers such as methane and hydrogen through the process of hydrothermal gasification.
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