Prospective technology on bioethanol production from photofermentation

• Published in: Bioresource technology 2015-04, Vol.181, p.330-337
• Main Authors: Costa, Rosangela Lucio, Oliveira, Thamayne Valadares, Ferreira, Juliana de Souza, Cardoso, Vicelma Luiz, Batista, Fabiana Regina Xavier
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Biofuels; Biomass; Biotechnology - methods; Carbon - pharmacology; Chlamydomonas reinhardtii - drug effects; Chlamydomonas reinhardtii - metabolism; Chlamydomonas reinhardtii - radiation effects; Coculture Techniques; Ethanol - metabolism; Fermentation - drug effects; Fermentation - radiation effects; Heterotrophic Processes - drug effects; Heterotrophic Processes - radiation effects; Light; Oxygen - metabolism; Rhodobacter - drug effects; Rhodobacter - metabolism; Rhodobacter - radiation effects
• ISSN: 0960-8524; 1873-2976
• DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2015.01.090

The most important global demand is the energy supply from alternative source. Ethanol may be considered an environmental friendly fuel that has been produced by feedstock. The production of ethanol by microalgae represent a process with reduced environmental impact with efficient CO2 fixation and requiring less arable land. This work studied the production of ethanol from green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii through the cellular metabolism in a light/dark cycle at 25 °C in a TAP medium with sulfur depletion. The parameters evaluated were inoculum concentration and the medium supplementation with mixotrophic carbon sources. The combination of C.reinhardtii and Rhodobacter capsulatus through a hybrid or co-culture systems was also investigated as well. C.reinhardtii maintained in TAP-S produced 19.25±4.16 g/L (ethanol). In addition, in a hybrid system, with medium initially supplemented with milk whey permeated and the algal effluent used by R. capsulatus, the ethanol production achieved 19.94±2.67 g/L.