Algae for Biofuels and Energy

301 Pages·2013·8.43 MB·English

by  Michael A. Borowitzka (auth.)

Algae for Biofuels and Energy
Developments in Applied Phycology 5
Series Editor:
Michael A. Borowitzka
School of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology
Murdoch University, Murdoch, Western Australia, Australia
For further volumes:
http://www.springer.com/series/7591
Michael A. Borowitzka (cid:129) Navid R. Moheimani
Editors
Algae for Biofuels and Energy
Editors
Michael A. Borowitzka Navid R. Moheimani
Algae R&D Centre Algae R&D Centre
School of Biological Sciences School of Biological Sciences
and Biotechnology and Biotechnology
Murdoch University Murdoch University
Murdoch, WA, Australia Murdoch , WA, Australia
ISBN 978-94-007-5478-2 ISBN 978-94-007-5479-9 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-94-007-5479-9
Springer Dordrecht Heidelberg New York London
Library of Congress Control Number: 2012954780
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Preface
The concept of using algae as a source of renewable fuels and energy is quite an old one, dating
back at least to 1931, but one which gained much attention during the 1990’s oil crisis and
then, once again, more recently interest in algae as a source of biofuels has risen dramatically.
The potential attractive features of algae have often been listed, but as yet the high cost of
producing algae biomass means that algal biofuels as an economical, renewable and sustain-
able source of biofuels and bioenergy is still somewhat off in the future. Microalgae are cur-
rently probably the most studied potential source of biofuels, and in the US alone there are
some 30+ companies working in the area and total investment in R&D is in excess of several
billion $US worldwide.
This book focuses on microalgae rather than seaweeds, as microalgae are the most attrac-
tive for renewable energy production, especially the production of biodiesel, although seaweed
biomass can also be used. The aim of this book is to review in detail the most important aspects
of the microalgae-to-bioenergy process, with an emphasis on microalgae as sources of lipids
for the production of biodiesel and as potential sources of hydrogen. The book is meant as a
guide and resource for both the experienced practitioners in the fi eld and to those newer to this
exciting fi eld of research. However, no single book can cover all aspects of the production of
bioenergy from algae; for example, we do not cover the fermentation of algal biomass to
produce methane, nor the fermentation of algal sugars to ethanol or butanol.
This book begins (Chap. 1 ) with an introduction to the history and developments over the
last 80 years or so in the area of large-scale and commercial-scale culture of microalgae and
the extensive literature that is available. Much can be learned from the extensive research that
has been carried out, and by knowing this history (some of which is not easily accessible) we
can avoid repeating past mistakes.
One of the key attractions of microalgae is the high lipid content of some species and the
lipid and fatty acid composition and metabolism is covered in Chap. 2 by Guschina and
Harwood, and the production and properties of biodiesel from these algal oils is considered in
detail by Knothe in Chap. 1 2 , while Chap. 3 by Peters et al. considers hydrogenases, nitroginases
and H production by water-oxidizing phototrophs (i.e. algae and cyanobacteria). The fi rst step
2
in developing an algae bioenergy process is species and strain selection and this topic is consi-
dered in detail in Chap. 4 . Chapter 5 by Beardall and Raven focuses on light and inorganic
carbon supply as key limiting factors to growth in dense cultures and Chap. 6 by Rasala et al.
looks at how genetic engineering may be used to improve and modify algae strains.
The systems for production of microalgae biomass are reviewed in Chaps. 7 (photobiore-
actors; Chini Zittelli et al.), 8 (open pond systems (Borowitzka & Moheimani) and 9 (systems
utilizing waste waters; Craggs et al.). The key downstream processes of harvesting and dewa-
tering and extraction of the lipids are covered in Chaps. 1 0 (Pahl et al.) and 1 1 (Molina Grima
et al.). Finally, Chap. 13 (Jacobi and Posten) looks at the energy balances of closed photobio-
reactors and how these may be improved, Chap. 1 4 (Flesch et al.) looks at the greenhouse gas
balance of algae based biodiesel using a range of models, and Chap. 15 (Borowitzka) describes
the process of techno-economic modelling and how it can be used to guide R&D in the devel-
opment of algae biofuels.
v
vi Preface
In our experience there is also often some confusion on the basic laboratory methods used
in algae culture and for the analysis of their basic composition, and we have therefore included
a chapter on these basic methods as used and veri fi ed in our laboratory over many years. We
hope that, by providing this information in an easily accessible format, newer workers in the
fi eld will be able to produce more reliable results which can then be easily compared between
different laboratories.
Michael Armin Borowitzka
Navid Reza Moheimani
Contents
1 Energy from Microalgae: A Short History ............................................................ 1
Michael A. Borowitzka
2 Algal Lipids and Their Metabolism ....................................................................... 17
Irina A. Guschina and John L. Harwood
3 Hydrogenases, Nitrogenases, Anoxia, and H Production
2
in Water-Oxidizing Phototrophs ............................................................................. 37
John W. Peters , Eric S. Boyd , Sarah D’Adamo , David W. Mulder ,
Jesse Therien , and Matthew C. Posewitz
4 Species and Strain Selection .................................................................................... 77
Michael A. Borowitzka
5 Limits to Phototrophic Growth in Dense Culture: CO Supply and Light ........ 91
2
John Beardall and John A. Raven
6 Genetic Engineering to Improve Algal Biofuels Production ................................ 99
Beth A. Rasala , Javier A. Gimpel , Miller Tran , Mike J. Hannon ,
Shigeki Joseph Miyake-Stoner , Elizabeth A. Specht ,
and Stephen P. May fi eld
7 Photobioreactors for Microalgal Biofuel Production ........................................... 115
Graziella Chini Zittelli , Liliana Rodol fi , Niccoló Bassi , Natascia Biondi ,
and Mario R. Tredici
8 Open Pond Culture Systems ................................................................................... 133
Michael A. Borowitzka and Navid Reza Moheimani
9 Wastewater Treatment and Algal Biofuel Production .......................................... 153
Rupert J. Craggs , Tryg J. Lundquist , and John R. Benemann
10 Harvesting, Thickening and Dewatering Microalgae Biomass ............................ 165
Stephen L. Pahl , Andrew K. Lee , Theo Kalaitzidis , Peter J. Ashman ,
Suraj Sathe , and David M. Lewis
11 Solvent Extraction for Microalgae Lipids.............................................................. 187
Emilio Molina Grima , María Jose Ibáñez González ,
and Antonio Giménez Giménez
12 Production and Properties of Biodiesel from Algal Oils....................................... 207
Gerhard Knothe
13 Energy Considerations of Photobioreactors .......................................................... 223
Anna Jacobi and Clemens Posten
14 Greenhouse Gas Balance and Algae-Based Biodiesel ........................................... 233
Anne Flesch , Tom Beer , Peter K. Campbell , David Batten , and Tim Grant
vii
viii Contents
15 Techno-Economic Modeling for Biofuels from Microalgae ................................. 255
Michael A. Borowitzka
16 Standard Methods for Measuring Growth of Algae
and Their Composition ............................................................................................ 265
Navid Reza Moheimani , Michael A. Borowitzka , Andreas Isdepsky ,
and Sophie Fon Sing
Index .................................................................................................................................. 285
Contributors
Peter J. Ashman School of Chemical Engineering , The University of Adelaide , Adelaide ,
SA , Australia
David Batten Low Cost Algal Fuels , CSIRO Energy Transformed Flagship , Aspendale , VIC ,
Australia
Niccoló Bassi Fotosintetica & Microbiologia S.r.l. , Firenze , Italy
John Beardall School of Biological Sciences , Monash University , Clayton , VIC , Australia
Tom Beer Transport Biofuels Stream , CSIRO Energy Transformed Flagship , Aspendale ,
VIC , Australia
John R. Benemann Benemann and Associates , Walnut Creek , CA , USA
Natascia Biondi Dipartimento di Biotecnologie Agrarie , Università degli Studi di Firenze ,
Firenze , Italy
Michael A. Borowitzka Algae R&D Centre, School of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology ,
Murdoch University , Murdoch , WA , Australia
Eric S. Boyd Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, and Astrobiology Biogeocatalysis
Research Center , Montana State University , Bozeman , MT , USA
Peter K. Campbell University of Tasmania , Hobart , TAS , Australia
Rupert J. Craggs National Institute for Water and Atmospheric Research , Hamilton ,
New Zealand
Sarah D’Adamo Department of Chemistry and Geochemistry , Colorado School of Mines ,
Golden , CO , USA
Anne Flesch Veolia Environnement , Paris , France
Sophie Fon Sing Algae R&D Centre, School of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology ,
Murdoch University , Murdoch , WA , Australia
Antonio Giménez Giménez Department of Chemical Engineering , University of Almería ,
Almería , Spain
Javier A. Gimpel Division of Biological Sciences , University of California San Diego ,
San Diego , CA , USA
Tim Grant Life Cycle Strategies , Melbourne , VIC , Australia
Emilio Molina Grima Department of Chemical Engineering , University of Almería , Almería ,
Spain
Irina A. Guschina School of Biosciences , Cardiff University , Cardiff, Wales , UK
ix