Microalgae Fuel      

The ways as how to produce biological fuels have attracted increasing attention worldwide. They include using biomass to produce liquid fuels like fuel ethanol and biodiesel and using microbial fermentation to produce gas fuels such as hydrogen and methane. As corn-based biofuels have drawn doubt from the public as such type of energy production solution has led to a surge in global grain prices, a large amount of scientists are now looking into microalgae-based biofuel.
   Microalgae is the phytoplankton that could be found in freshwater and marine systems everywhere. Microalgae play a key role in energy conversion and carbon element cycle because the volume of carbon dioxide fixation by microalgae photosynthesis makes up more than 40% of the global carbon dioxide fixation every year.
   In some cases, microalgae photosynthesis would produce oil in the form of oil drops inside cells. The drops can be extracted and then, by using the transesterification process, turned into monomethyl ester of aliphatic acids, or biodiesel. In other cases, microalgae would produce long-chain olefins, which have the potential to become biofuel. Microalgal triglycerides have also attracted attention as potential economical substrates for biodiesel production.
   Several Chinese research institutes and companies have also paid close attention to the research and development of using microalgae to prepare oil. For example, they have studied to use chlorella vulgaris under heterotrophic culture, or growing on glucose-supplemented media, to make biodiesel and this has been proved technically feasible.
   The Chinese Academy of Sciences has been responsible for many research tasks on microalgae breeding and production, and has been actively working with major Chinese petroleum and chemical companies, seeking to find a right road for China to industrialize the microalgae-to-biodiesel business.