Algae and their growth requirements for bioenergy: a review

ABSTRACT

Algal-derived bioenergy is one of the best alternative energy sources to replace fossil-based fuels. Algae are a diverse collection of oxygen-releasing photosynthetic organisms with rapid growth capacity that utilise commonly available materials for growth. Biological CO₂ mitigation using microalgae is an environmentally friendly and economical method. Besides this, algae are able to live in extreme environments containing high amounts of heavy metals, making this a useful way to treat wastewater. The biomass produced from algae also can be used as a source of energy, chemicals and food. However, to ensure that the optimum blooming capacity is reached for the production of high-yield biomass for bioenergy resources, growth factors such as absorbed CO₂, nutrient availability, light energy, temperature, pH and agitation should be studied comprehensively. This article provides a selective overview of the past and present studies of algal growth and the factors that affect the production of algal biomass.

KEYWORDS:

• Algae
• phycoremediation
• biomass
• bioenergy
• biofuel

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to acknowledge the Centre for Research and Instrumentation Management (CRIM), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) and Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) (Project Code: LIV-2014-01 and GGPM-2014-027) for providing the financial support to facilitate the preparation of this review report.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This study was funded by the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia [grant number LIV-2014-01 and GGPM-2014-027].