Engineering strategies of microalgal cultivation for potential jet fuel production – A critical review

The aviation industry stands as a well-known "hard to electrify" sector, currently responsible for the consumption of massive amounts of fossil fuels, considerably contributing to global CO2 emissions. The need to reduce the aviation carbon footprint to comply with the European Green Deal...

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Published in:Journal of environmental chemical engineering 2024-10, Vol.12 (5), p.113886, Article 113886
Main Authors: Lutzu, Giovanni Antonio, Usai, Luca, Ciurli, Adriana, Chiellini, Carolina, Di Caprio, Fabrizio, Pagnanelli, Francesca, Parsaeimehr, Ali, Malina, Ilze, Malins, Kristaps, Fabbricino, Massimiliano, Cesaro, Alessandra, Policastro, Grazia, Cao, Giacomo, Concas, Alessandro
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aviation fuels
Bio-jet-fuels
Cultivation
Lipid accumulation strategies
Microalgae
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Summary:The aviation industry stands as a well-known "hard to electrify" sector, currently responsible for the consumption of massive amounts of fossil fuels, considerably contributing to global CO2 emissions. The need to reduce the aviation carbon footprint to comply with the European Green Deal objectives, has driven intensive research into the so-called bio-jet fuels (BJF) that can be obtained from different lipid-rich substrates, including microalgae among the most promising. Starting from the analysis of existing studies dealing with the selection of the strains more indicated for BJF production, this review examines the most recent breakthrough in microalgae cultivation techniques and lipid accumulation strategies, focusing on the approaches targeting the enhancement of the process environmental sustainability. The main bottlenecks in each phase of the production process are identified and critically reviewed. The most recent solutions are also thoroughly discussed to point out room for improvements in consolidated engineering strategies, as well as areas of further scientific research to advance the state of the art on micro-algal potential for BJF production. [Display omitted] •Microalgae use for the the production of bio-jet fuels is critically reviewed.•Production costs of microalgal BJF should be reduced to make this technology competitive.•Main costs are associated to microalgae cultivation rather than algal oil upgrade.•Different strategies adopted to make the cultivation sustainable are critically discussed.
ISSN:2213-3437
DOI:10.1016/j.jece.2024.113886