Carlos Jose DalmasNeto1, Eduardo Bittencourt Sydney2,
Ricardo Assmann1, DolivarCoraucci Neto1,

Carlos Ricardo Soccol2

xOurofino Agronegocio, Rodovia Anhanguera SP 330, Km 298 Distrito Industrial,

Cravinhos, SP, Brazil

2Department of Bioprocess Engineering and Biotechnology,

Federal University of Parana, Curitiba-Pr, Brazil

7.1 INTRODUCTION

In recent years microalgae are gaining importance mainly due to their potential for fuel production with zero carbon emissions. In the actual context, algal fuel is economically unfeasible compared to petroleum-derived fuel (which costs around US$0.55/L to U. S. con­sumers). To successfully make the transition from fossil fuels to biofuels, it is necessary to achieve the same or better quality (chemical and physical characteristics) for at least the same price. At this point, for most of the world, economics have greater influence than the eco­friendly characteristics (renewable sources and less polluting gas emissions) offered by biofuels.

The main reason for this economical limitation of biofuels manufactured from algae is the high costs of culture media and downstream processes (extraction, purification, and transformation) on an industrial scale. To make algal oil technologies economically feasible, these steps might be improved. In terms of culture media, it is in vogue to use wastewater as a partial or complete source of nutrients (carbon dioxide, nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium, magnesium, and some micronutrients) for algal growth as an alternative to reduce cultivation costs, whereas in terms of oil recuperation and transformation fast pyrolysis is a cheap alternative. This chapter describes a patented technology for biofuel production through fast pyrolysis from lipid-rich microalgae.