Microalgae biorefinery: High value products perspectives

Chew KW 1 , Yap JY 2 , Show PL 3 , Suan NH 4 , Juan JC 5 , Ling TC 6 Show all authors , Lee DJ 7 , Chang JS 8

Affiliations 

  • 1 Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus, Jalan Broga, 43500 Semenyih, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia; Nanotechnology & Catalysis Research Centre (NANOCAT), University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
  • 2 Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus, Jalan Broga, 43500 Semenyih, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia
  • 3 Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus, Jalan Broga, 43500 Semenyih, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia; Food and Pharmaceutical Engineering Research Group, Molecular Pharming and Bioproduction Research Group, University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus, Jalan Broga, 43500 Semenyih, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia
  • 4 Department of Food Science and Nutrition, Faculty of Applied Sciences, UCSI University, UCSI Heights, 56000 Cheras, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
  • 5 Laboratory of Advanced Catalysis and Environmental Technology, Monash University Sunway Campus, Malaysia; Nanotechnology & Catalysis Research Centre (NANOCAT), University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
  • 6 Institute of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
  • 7 Department of Chemical Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei 106, Taiwan
  • 8 Department of Chemical Engineering, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 701, Taiwan; Research Center for Energy Technology and Strategy, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 701, Taiwan. Electronic address: changjs@mail.ncku.edu.tw
Bioresour Technol, 2017 Apr;229:53-62.
PMID: 28107722 DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2017.01.006

Abstract

Microalgae have received much interest as a biofuel feedstock in response to the uprising energy crisis, climate change and depletion of natural sources. Development of microalgal biofuels from microalgae does not satisfy the economic feasibility of overwhelming capital investments and operations. Hence, high-value co-products have been produced through the extraction of a fraction of algae to improve the economics of a microalgae biorefinery. Examples of these high-value products are pigments, proteins, lipids, carbohydrates, vitamins and anti-oxidants, with applications in cosmetics, nutritional and pharmaceuticals industries. To promote the sustainability of this process, an innovative microalgae biorefinery structure is implemented through the production of multiple products in the form of high value products and biofuel. This review presents the current challenges in the extraction of high value products from microalgae and its integration in the biorefinery. The economic potential assessment of microalgae biorefinery was evaluated to highlight the feasibility of the process.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

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