The potential of microalgae in biodiesel production

In recent years, biodiesel production has grabbed significant attention due to the awareness of fossil fuel exhaustion. Microalgae become interested feedstock candidate of biodiesel production as they have rapid growth rate and high oil content compared to crops. Efforts have been made to increase microalgae productivity and oil content. To investigate the potential of microalgae for biodiesel production, it is essential to knowledge if the microalgae oil is qualified as possible feedstock oil. Moreover, what would be the energy and environmental effect of the production? And whether the production cost would be reasonable? This paper compared the properties of microalgae oil with traditional biodiesel production oils (vegetable oils); the properties of the biodiesel produced from microalgae and vegetable oils; reviewed the net energy ratio (energy output to energy input), GHG emissions, and economic analysis of the process of biodiesel production from microalgae; as well as discussed the factors which would influent the energy, environment, and cost of the process.