Costs microalgae biomass

On the other hand, understanding different techniques for cell immobilization may help develop new applications of a certain approach. For example, self-flocculation is commonly used to separate yeast cells from culture broth in the brewery industry, which provides a clue for developing a cost-effective harvesting technology for microalgae biomass production. 

It is not possible, at present, to provide either a detailed resource base assessment (e.g., potentially available water, land, or nutrient resources), or a detailed cost analysis of aquatic plant production. Thus, this review presents general concepts of aquatic biomass farming exemplified by three systems — microalgae farming for lipid fuel and chemicals production, cattail cultivation for conversion to alcohol fuels, and growing water hyacinths for methane gas generation. Wastewater aquaculture applications are not covered in this review nor are the actual conversion processes by which aquatic biomass would be converted to fuels. 

Vandamme, D., Foubert, 1, and Muylaert, K. (2013) Flocculation as a low-cost method for harvesting microalgae for bulk biomass production. Trends BiotechnoL, 31 (4), 233-239,... 

It is out of question that algal biomass can be utilized for the production of various bioproducts. However, significant improvements in the efficiency, cost structure and ability to scale-up algal growth, and lipid extraction are required to establish a commercially viable microalgae-based biorefinery. 

In-situ transesterification of microalgae Reduces solvent use, less energy consumption Cost-effective only when the biomass has high percentage of lipids... 

Adapted from Slade, R., Bauen, A., 2013. Microalgae cultivation for biofuels cost, energy balance, environmental impacts and future prospects. Biomass Bioenergy 53, 29—38. 

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