Integrated microalgal biorefinery - Routes, energy, economic and environmental perspectives

Commercialization of microalgal biofuels is not yet attained even after plentiful of research and extensive scientific projects. Expending the cost and energy for producing single microalgal product proven to be unviable, and hence integrating multiple product generation from single batch of biomass was considered as effective. This review focusses on delineating the challenges associated with individual fuel production pathways and merits of integrating different fuel production pathways. The advantages of integrated microalgal biorefinery have been summarized along with energy output and economic impact. Integrated production of different biofuels enhances the energy output significantly (biodiesel + biocrude oil -18.8 MJ kg(-1), biodiesel + bioethanol -15.4 MJ kg(-1), biodiesel + biogas -13.4 MJ kg(-1)) and reduced the cost of biomass production by about 60% and 40% for biodiesel and other fuel productions, respectively. In addition, the integrated production of bioproducts with fuels also emphasized in the present study.

Automated summary

This article discusses the challenges and advantages of commercializing microalgal biofuels, focusing on the integration of different production pathways to increase energy output and reduce production costs. The study also emphasizes the integration of bioproducts with fuels.