Current research and perspectives on microalgae-derived biodiesel

Biofuels have gained much attention in the recent years. Microalgae hold tremendous potential for production of biofuels as a suitable alternative to conventional fossil fuels. However, in order to ensure sustainability of the biofuel production from microalgae, many issues needs to be considered. Large-scale production of such biofuels is often limited by high cost of production, various environmental concerns including water footprint, and low yield. The algal biorefinery strategy, which can integrate several different conversion technologies to produce biofuels, holds potential for reducing the overall production cost. This paper is a review on various aspects associated with algal cultivation, lipid extraction and biodiesel production. Different factors reported to affect the process of algal cultivation and advancements in transesterification process and product recovery are summarized here. A brief on biorefinery approach is also discussed.