With predictions of an ever-increasing global population in the 1940s and 1950s, many researchers were considering how feeding such vast number of people would be possible. Traditionally livestock is fed using arable crops however researchers believed that algae could play a large part in providing a high protein food source for livestock and thus a method for feeding the global population [5]. At University California at Berkley, Pro­fessor Oswald began designing pond systems to cultivate freshwater algae on a large scale. The idea was to design a low impact system (i. e., low energy requirements and environmental impact) which provided condi­tions allowing high productivity of the cultivated algae. Oswald’s work also focussed upon combining algal cultivation with wastewater treatment providing a co-benefit [4]. The algae could therefore provide a means of improving the water quality of raw or partially treated effluent as well as providing livestock feed.

The biomass produced from the cultivation process was not restricted to livestock feed and studies were performed assessing the amount of biogas the algal biomass was capable of providing [2]. Algae was deemed a po­tentially valuable substrate for biogas production and various strains have been tested for their suitability up to the present day [6-8]. Further investi­gations led to algal biomass being assessed for alternative fuel types. Due to the high oil content of many algae species [9-14] biodiesel was consid­ered a valuable fuel which could be extracted and processed from algal biomass. The concept of producing biodiesel from microalgae was de­veloped considerably by the US Department of Energy’s Aquatic Species Program: Biodiesel from Algae [15]. The program ran from 1978 to 1996 and was focused upon producing biodiesel from microalgae fed with CO2 from flue gases. The program was born out of a requirement for energy security as the US relied heavily upon gasoline for transport fuel, disrup­tion to supplies could have significant repercussions to the economy. The program provided excellent contributions to the area of algal cultivation for biofuel but when funds were diverted to alternative fuel research the program was phased out in 1996 [15].

Recently the interest in biofuels from algae has dramatically increased as a result of increased fossil fuel prices and the need to find an alternative energy source due to the threat of climate change. Areas of studies include optimising biofuel yields, methods of reducing energy consumption, in­vestigating alternative products and assessing environmental impacts.