Developments in Algae Production for Algae to Fuel - Research Proposal Example

5.2. Engineering Research There are various forms of engineering research on technologies of algae production for fuel generation. For instance, research has been done on establishing return on investment as a result of cultivation of algae for biofuel production (Auzel, 2004). It has been established that the factors that affect ROI include market prices, and consequently can vary significantly based on conditions that exist in the market such as price of oil. On the other hand, studies have been conducted on partial return on investment as a result of cultivation of algae and it has been found that PFROI can be greater than 1 when the cost of growth, processing and refining are kept lower than $600 per litre of growth volume that has been subjected to processing (Battisti and Naylor 2008). When a total cost of less than $600 is incurred per million of growth processed, it is expected that there can be a general FROI that is greater than 1 in this case. In addition, researches have been conducted on fresh water consumption intensity and it has been found that the water consumption intensity of the order 2.4 L/km can be achieved by consumption of 25 liters of fresh water for each thousand of processed volume of water (Becker, 2004). The use of saline water or waste water is also favourable in ensuring water consumption intensity. Studies have also been conducted and it has been found that there are areas of opportunities in improving algae cultivation for fuel generation. These include; the use of waste and recycled nutrients such as waste water and wastes from animals, the use of waste heat and flue-gas from industrial activities and establishment of energy-efficient methods of water treatment and recycling methods (Bickerton et al. 1999). Other areas of opportunity that have been established include; the use of energy-efficient methods during energy harvesting such as the use of chemical flocculation methods and prevention of separation by distillation methods (Borowitzka 1999). In addition, researches have been conducted on the feasibility of the use of genetically modified organisms that secret oils. There are policies and externalities that have the potential to affect biofuel economics but will not have impact on energy accounting (Chinnasamy, Bhatnagar, Claxton and Das, 2010). In addition, researches have been successfully conducted and it has been established that algae has the potential to produce nutraceutical and pharmaceutical co-products, which have the potential to improve the general economic processes. For the purpose of comparison, co-products have the potential to account for approximately 20% of the energy value generated from ethanol; because co-products are preferred in higher value industries, algal fuels have the potential to have a higher co-product allocation from corn seed (Chisti and Yan 2011). 5.2.1. Integrated Algae Production System Green growth biofuels undertakings oblige plan and designing aptitude that is special to this area of the renewable vitality industry. Generally few organizations plan, specialist, and production forte process hardware for green growth biofuels ventures on the grounds that this procedure innovation is in the early phases of improvement (Blasse and Grabmaier 1994). The planner must comprehend the complexities and interrelations of the green growth generation and gathering process, the oil extraction process, and the biodiesel refining process that uses the green growth oil. In adjusting these and different components, the creator will focus the kind of procedure innovation the venture will use and, in addition, the force source that will be required (Borowitzka 1999). Mindful configuration turns out to be significantly more discriminating if the venture site contains existing offices that are to be consolidated into the new generation plant, or if the engineer's arrangements incorporate a co-era framework, i.e., the recuperation of helpful vitality from the biofuels procedures, (for example, the era of power from waste warmth). Given the numerous elements affecting the improvement of a green growth biofuels venture, no single contractual structure will apply to all activities. A green growth biofuels office that develops the green growth and produces the biodiesel at the same site will have numerous development issues to address (Buesseler et al. 2004). A venture designer may need to hold one builder to give exclusive procedure hardware and a second foreman to embrace the configuration and building of the offset of the plant. The offset of-plant foreman will be in charge of the charging, start-up, and execution testing of the whole office and will give guarantee administrations. In this game plan, the work of the two builders will be firmly facilitated both in space and in time (Chinnasamy et al. 2010). The equalization of-plant foreman will require data about the forte builder's procedure gear to outline, build, and lay out the whole plant in a manner that monetarily interfaces the different parts to power, controls and information frameworks, and different offices. The offset of-plant foreman will likewise require a conveyance plan for the procedure hardware to figure a calendar for planning establishments and raising procedure gear. The venture engineer and the claim to fame foreman regularly go into a supply assertions where the builder consents to designer, acquire, and build process hardware segments and convey them to the site on an unequivocal calendar and to give master help with appointing and testing that gear after it is raised and joined with the equalization of-plant offices (Chisti and Yan 2011). The claim to fame builder likewise gives an execution certification measured as far as inputs (counting vitality use) and yields. The venture engineer then goes into an offset of-plant concurrence with a general foreman who consents to plan and build the other fundamental offices for the undertaking, including establishments, streets, storerooms, biodiesel capacity and stacking offices, and electrical and control frameworks for the whole green growth biofuels office (Chisti 2007). Both arrangements of assertions will endeavor to keep away from obstruction, duplication, or oversight between the extents of work of the claim to fame foreman and the parity of-plant builder and to guarantee that, all in all, the understandings will bring about a completely built, incorporated, and operational undertaking. In drafting contracts for procedure gear and the offset of-plant development, the designer must concentrate on the extent of work, measures of culmination, individual guarantee commitments, impediments of risk, and related protection issues (Christi 2008). These issues are talked about under Scope of Work. 5.2.2. Processing Technologies 5.2.2.1. Growing Process The main activities that take place during the growth of algae include cultivation of biomass followed by lipids extraction after which the lipids are upgraded into hydrocarbons. This is illustrated in the figure below. Figure 1. Process diagram during cultivation of algae The growth of microalgae takes place through the autotropic pathways due to their potential to contribute to renewable fuels, specifically the rate at which they grow in a rapid manner (Weyer, Bush, Darzins and Willson,  2010). A number of microalgae species have the ability to accumulate triglyceride (TAG) components that can be used during extraction and conversion into diesel-range fuel and the fuel is expected to undergo a mild upgrading into finished fuel. During the cultivation process either open pond or closed pond photobioeactor can be used (Ward and Singh 2005). In the early stages of growth, the trade-offs between benefits and costs are estimated and most estimates have shown that open pond system is less costly compared with the use of photobioreactors. In the open pond system, the pond design is made in such a way that a size of 4-hectare (ha) with a paddle-wheel are installed (Wang 2002). This is followed by installing plastic liners that are added to enable more universal applications for open pond systems where optimum solid characteristics cannot be achieved from drainage/percolation or structural standpoint. Economic viability is achieved by proper site selection and design that ensures optimum that are needed for optimum pond liners, thus ensuring bottlenecks are mitigated (Trupke, Green and Wurfel, 2002). This is followed by adding nutrients of various kinds and compositions of C: N: P molar ration of 174:20:1 based on the medium-lipid scenario where the letters in the ration represent carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus respectively (Strümpel et al. 2007). Most of the nutrients are recycled from the downstream anaerobic digestion process, hence resulting into a high amount of saving in nutrient costs. The CO2 requirements are met by conveying the gas at low pressure in a pipeline system that branches from a power plant or other source of gas and transporting for a kilometre from the source to the pond. 5.2.2.2. Harvesting Process When cultivation has been done, algal cells are assumed to be ready from harvesting from ponds at a concentration of 0.5g/L and have to be subjected to concentration for subsequent extraction and processing (Spalding 2008). During the dewatering process, the main activities include auto-flocculation, dissolved air flotation that has been subjected to centrifugation. While the primary settling step is the simplest of the other watering processes, it results into the highest cost of operation given the low concentration at the starting stage thus resulting into a high total volume (Singh, Kate and Banerjee 2005). This results into the accomplishment of a concentration of 10g/L when primary settling is complete, organic polymer flocculants is added and a concentration of 200g/L is achieved after centrifugation. While the effectiveness of these operations is supported in most studies with a similar performance as illustrated here, they involve the use of old techniques for wastewater processing, and have the potential to result into an impact on cost of dewatering method compared with basic operations implemented here. When a concentration of 200g/L has been achieved, the algal materials are sent to the extraction stage. This is a process that is composed of harmonization process, composed of cell disruption by use of high-pressure homogenization, followed by the use of hexane during extraction of the solvent at a ratio of 5:1 per kg of biomass (Searchinger et al. 2008). This is followed by separating the material into a light phase and heavy phase by use of a disk stack centrifuge. This is followed by stripping the solvent from the algal residue followed by conveying the residue to the point of digestion (Sayre and Pereira 2008). At the extraction process, the algal oil is assumed to be composed of 100% triglyceride whose extraction effectiveness meets the expected standards for catalytic upgrading. In most cases, the oil contains traces of polar lipids, hydrophobic proteins and pigments which are not easy to extract and have the potential to reduce the catalytic lifetime. 5.2.2.3. Refining Process Biorefining is the process of processing the biomass obtained into a wide range of products and energy. A biorefiner refers to a combination of facilities that integrate the process of converting biomass. This idea is similar to the present petroleum refinery, which results into production of products from petroleum (Sayre 2010). The design of the biorefinery system must ensure efficiency in the use of fuel and ensure environmental sustainability. Consequently, the production of biofuels from micro and macro algae involves the use of a wide variety of chemicals as well as implementation of various forms of physical processes (Pulz and Gross 2004). As a result it is required that biofuel should be produced as co-products in addition to by-products through implementation of integrated system of biorefinery. The present concept of biorefinery involves the use of a large-scale cultivation of biomass and their on-site processing for the purpose of producing biofuel and other products. During refinery of biofuels, the most important energy products that are likely to be produced in the refineries are bioethanol and biodiesel (Peng and Wondraczek 2009). The biomass products that are produced during refinery include biomass that is composed of various forms of solids such as functional feed and biofertilizers, phycocolloids, pigments, pharmaceuticals and antioxidants. There are various products obtained from an integrated algal-biorefinery that can be used in a number of industries such as pharmaceutical industries in addition to production of oil (Pascal et al. 2005). When the oil has been extracted from the algae, it can be converted into energy through a variety of methods such as gasification. This is the process where carbonaceous materials are converted into synthesis gas by means of partial oxidation by air, oxygen and steam at high temperatures that ranges between 800oC and 900oC. Liquefaction is also a method used in algae processing. This is where microalga cell precipitates obtained from centrifugation, which is at high moisture composition is subjected to direct hydrothermal liquefaction in a sub-critical water conditions that ensure the biomass is converted into liquid fuel (Pal, Khozin-Goldberg, Cohen and Boussiba 2011). Another process involved in algae biofuel preparation is hydrogenation. This is the process where an autoclave is performed under high temperature and pressure in the presence of a catalyst. This takes place in three phases i.e. gaseous phase, liquid phase and solid particles phase. A stirred slurry reactor is used where the gasesous phase is bubbled through the liquid from a sparger located on the bottom section of the reactor, the solid particles, slurred with the liquid are fed into the reactor (Packer  2009). The gaseous reactants and solid reactants then dissolve in the liquid stage and mix with the liquid reactant towards the catalysts. This is followed by reaction of the chemicals at the surface of the liquid. Figure 1. Biofuel generation from algae In order to produce ethanol using microalgae as a raw material, the first activity is releasing the starch of microalgae from the cells with the help of a mechanical device or an enzyme. In the process of cell degradation, Saccharomycess cerevisiae yeasts are added to the biomass to enable fermentation to take place (Leskela 1998). This is followed by draining the ethanol from the tank and subsequent pumping to a holding tank that leads to the distillation unit. Another refining process involving microalgae is transesterification. This is the process where alkoxy group of an ester compound is exchanged with another alcohol. This is followed by subjecting the reaction to a catalytic process that involves an acid or a base, using a homogenous or a heterogeneous catalytic reaction (Keffer and Kleinheinz 2002). Transesterifcation is the process where a fat or oil reacts with alcohol to form esters. This results into production of biodiesel. High yields are obtained when excess alcohol is used. 5.2.3. Omega System in production of Algae The Offshore Membrane Enclosures for Growing Algae (OMEGA) is an innovation that facilitates growing of algae, contribute to cleanliness of water, capture carbon dioxide and finally enable production of fuel with little impact on agriculture on the basis of water consumption, the use of fertilizers and land (Buesseler, Andrews, Pike and Charette, 2004). NASA’s OMEGA project is mainly composed of flexible plastic tubes called photobioreactors. These photobioreactors are mainly located in freshwater where algae grow. The algae is considered to be an example of the fastest growing plants and able to reach maturity quickly. The growth of algae involves energy consumption, carbon dioxide absorption and utilisation of waste water in the process of producing biomass that can be used in production of biofuels in addition to other products such as fertilizers and animal foods (Chinnasamy, Bhatnagar, Claxton and Das, 2010). The algae contribute to cleansing effect on the water due to its effect on removing organic matter in the water that can otherwise result into marine deadzone formation. The goal of NASA project is to investigate the technical possibility of an important floating algae production system in addition to preparation of a method that can be used in algae application (Chisti and Yan, 2011). Scientists and engineer have carried out research and illustrated that OMEGA can be efficient in the growth of algae and treatment of water on small scale. INCLUDEPICTURE "http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/images/637960main_omega_systembenefits_diagram_full.jpg" \* MERGEFORMATINET INCLUDEPICTURE "http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/images/637960main_omega_systembenefits_diagram_full.jpg" \* MERGEFORMATINET INCLUDEPICTURE "http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/images/637960main_omega_systembenefits_diagram_full.jpg" \* MERGEFORMATINET Figure 2. Overview of Omega Project Studies are currently undertaken with the focus on understanding the effectiveness of OMEGA in generation of aviation fuels. Possible implications as a resulting of substitution of fossil fuels include a reduction in production of greenhouse gases, a reduction in accumulation of acids and improvement of national security (Chisti, 2007). It is estimated that there will be an increase in energy output as a result of this development in algae production as illustrated in the figure below. Figure 3. Energy output from macroalgae under four levels 5.2.4. Economic Research There are currently researches going on such as investigation of possible use of algae fuels in aviation sector which is estimated to contribute to a reduction of CO2 emissions from aviation industry by 5%. There are also studies undergoing to replace aviation fuels with algae fuels. This has been illustrated by a number of demo flights to prove the interest of airlines and manufacturers of aircrafts (Gao and Wondraczek 2013). Economic research has also demonstrated that the use of algae biodiesel results into low carbon emission in comparison to other forms of biodiesel and mineral diesel as illustrated in the figure below. INCLUDEPICTURE "http://www.energyandresources.vic.gov.au/__data/assets/image/0011/156485/co2-emissions-output.gif" \* MERGEFORMATINET INCLUDEPICTURE "http://www.energyandresources.vic.gov.au/__data/assets/image/0011/156485/co2-emissions-output.gif" \* MERGEFORMATINET INCLUDEPICTURE "http://www.energyandresources.vic.gov.au/__data/assets/image/0011/156485/co2-emissions-output.gif" \* MERGEFORMATINET Figure 4. CO2 emissions based on 100% biodiesel burnt There are many economic applications of generations of biofuel production that range from production of additional fuel which result into low dependence on fossil fuels to creation of employment opportunities (Jayasankar and Valsala 2008). It also results into improvement of infrastructural development. The worldwide economy obliges fossil hydrocarbons to capacity, from delivering plastics and composts to giving the vitality needed to lighting, warming and transportation (Kadam 1997). With our expanding population and extending economy, there will be expanded fossil fuel utilization. As nations enhance their GDP per capita, information recommends that their fossil fuel utilization will increment, and rivalry for these constrained assets will increment. Also, there comes expanding environmental CO2 fixation, and the potential for huge nursery gas-interceded environmental change, which now appears to be prone to influence all parts of the world (Keffer and Kleinheinz 2002). At long last, petroleum, which is mostly gotten from old green growth stores, is a restricted asset that will inevitably run out or turn out to be excessively extravagant, making it impossible to recuperate .These variables are driving the improvement of renewable vitality sources that can supplant fossil powers, and permit more noteworthy access to fuel assets for all countries while enormously diminishing carbon emanations into the environment (Leskela 1998). Various advancements have been inspected as renewable vitality sources and, albeit no single procedure is prone to give an aggregate arrangement, it appears to be conceivable that a blend of procedures can be utilized that will generously diminish our reliance on fossil energize. The test that remaining parts is to create renewable vitality businesses that work economically and can be cost focused with existing vitality choices (Lewis and Nocera 2006). Fossil powers are utilized for the era of electrical force, and additionally fluid energizes. There is an assortment of renewable or low air contamination advancements that can create the electrical force, including the sun powered, the wind, hydroelectric, geothermal and atomic. On the other hand, renewable innovations to supplement or supplant fluid fossil fills are still in their initial formative stages (Mohsenpour, Richards and Willoughby 2012). The International Energy Agency expects that biofuels will contribute 6% of aggregate fuel use by 2030, however, could extend altogether if undeveloped petroleum fields are not got to or if considerable new fields are not distinguished. The most encouraging feasible choices are only ordered under the moniker 'biofuels'. This term portrays an assorted scope of advances that produce fuel with no less than one segment in light of an organic framework (Packer 2009). 5.2.4. Calculation of Economic Return on Investment (EROI) Research has also been done to determine Return on Investments from algae biofuels such as the calculation of costs associated with water usage, electricity used and productivity of biomass when algae biofuel generation is carried out (Christi 2008). Energy Return on Investment is calculated using the formula: EROI = Energy returned to the society/ Energy required to get that energy The ratio is usually dimensionless since both the numerator and the denominator have the same units. It is advocated that net energy analysis should be performed because it offers the opportunity for understanding the advantages associated with the use of a particular fuel as well as the future expectations as a result of the use of that fuel (Gao and Wondraczek 2013). It has been found that in order to produce an efficient commercial biofuels, the EROI must be competitive with other fuels such as oil and gas. A number of studies have presented theoretical energy analyses of algae biofuel production, and despite the variations of the scope of the systems, each of these studies has also established that when there is little inputs, the EROI is not competitive enough compared with conventional fuels (Grosssman 2007). Studies conducted showed that 90% of the total energy consumed was associated with consumption at the bioreactor; air compression and mixing that take place in ponds. In contrast, when highly productive cases are involved with the use of efficient growth equipment, embedded energy nutrients composed 85% of the total energy consumption (75kJ/Lp) (Hoogwijk 2004). In a highly productive case, the assumption is that there is 8kg of CO2, 70g of nitrogen and 8g of phosphorus for each kg of algae generated. When the theory of conservation of mass is applied, the minimum CO2 requirement, NO2 requirement and phosphorus consumption is approximated to be 1.8 kg, 70 g of generic algal biomass respectively. When the minimum data is used, the associated energy requirements, the least energy embedded in the full-cycle nutrients alone requires an estimated energy of 17.7 kJ/Lp compared with the total energy production of 16.6KJ/Lp (Hu et al. 2008). It has been estimated that when quality factors are added, EROI is improved. Studies conducted to determine the costs of growing algae shows that it can be determined by estimating the electricity costs and the costs of maintaining the plants during growth that is estimated to be $ 105.2 /kLp. When 2.1 g of bio-oil is produced from each kL of the volume processed, the costs of cultivation is assumed to be $40000/L of bio-oil (Huntley and Redalje 2007). A study was conducted by (Hoogwijk, 2004) on techno-economic analysis and it was found that operating costs for the case of open-pond and enclosed bioreactors is closer to $1.3 /L of bio-oil. This outcome is similar to the total cost of operation of the highly productive case. Another economic estimation during cultivation of algae for biofuel generation is partial financial return on investment (PFROI) that involves calculation of return on investment when particular resources are considered (Hu et al. 2005). The challenge in obtaining PFROI is brought by costs of growing, processing and refining a high-yield biomass in a cost-effective manner, specifically due to the fact that most of the costs measure directly with productivity of biomass. A study has been conducted that involves an analysis of capital costs of similar production systems and it was found that capital costs account for 50% of the total costs of open-pond systems. According to previous studies by Jayasankar and Valsala (2008), for a particular increase in the number of inputs to a biofuel production process, the more there is a reduction in return on investments. Figure 5. The Relationship between EROI and PFROI for Experimental process and the highly productive Case when more inputs are considered 5.2.5. Water Intensity of Algal Biofuels Another economic consideration during calculation of EROI is water intensity of transportation of algal biofuels produced in the system. As illustrated in experiments that have been conducted previously, no recycling evaporation and transportation that takes place in ponds have impacts on transportation of fuels (Kadam 1997). In a highly productive case, there is a high water demand compared with traditional fossil fuels or the use of iron-irrigated biofuels when conventional feed stocks are used. While water intensity metrics is important in evaluation of the amount o water demands for fuel production, it does not include water quality i.e. it is possible to grow algae in a degraded, brackish and saline sources where concerns regarding the amount of water are insignificant in comparison with freshwater (Keffer and Kleinheinz 2002). A range of other studies have been conducted to establish the water intensity of fuels from algae and system boundaries have been varied. In a similar manner to inputs in energy generation, water inputs during production processes include direct and indirect components. Water intensity is also determined by co-product allocation, as the overall amount of water consumed during operation of a production pathway is allocated between bio-oil and co-products (Lewis and Nocera 2006). The outcome of the first-order water intensity incorporates water associated with the absorbed water and energy consumption from this study. References Alley, W. 2003. Desalination of groundwater: Earth Science Perspective. USGS Fact Sheet 075-03. Denver, CO: U.S. Geological Survey. Alvarez, H. M. and Steinbuchel, A. 2002. ―Triacylglycerols in prokaryotic microorganisms.‖ Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology. (60); pp. 367-376. Anttila, P., Karjalainen, T. and Asikainen, A. 2009. Global Potential of Modern Fuelwood. 29 p. ISBN 978-951-40-2160-2. Auzel, F. 2004. Upconversion and anti-stokes processes with f and d ions in solids. Chem. Rev.104, 139–173. Battisti DS and Naylor RL. 2008. Historical warnings of future food insecurity with unprecedented seasonal heat. Science 323: 240–244. Banerjee, A. R. Sharma; Chisti, Y. and Banerjee, U.C. 2002. ―Botryococcus braunii: A renewable source of hydrocarbons and other chemicals.‖ Crit. Rev. Biotechnol. (22); pp. 245-279. Becker, W. 2004. ―Microalgae in human and animal nutrition.‖ Richmond, A., ed. Handbook of microalgal culture. Blackwell, Oxford. pp. 312-351. Bickerton, J. C. Brightwell, J. W. Ray, B. and Viney, I. V. F.1999. Solid solution limits of the SrS–ZnS system. J. Mater. Sci. Lett. 18, 1051–1052. Blasse, G. and Grabmaier, B. 1994.C. Luminescent Materials Springer. Borowitzka, M. A. 1999. Commercial production of microalgae: ponds, tanks, tubes and fermenters. J. Biotechnol. 70, 313–321. Buesseler KO, Andrews JE, Pike SM,and Charette MA. 2004. The effects of iron fertilization on carbon sequestration in the Southern Ocean. Science 304: 414–417. Chinnasamy, S. Bhatnagar, A. Claxton, R. and Das, K. C.2010. Biomass and bioenergy production potential of microalgae consortium in open and closed bioreactors using untreated carpet industry effluent as growth medium. Bioresource Technol. 101, 6751–6760. Chisti, Y. and Yan, J. 2011. Energy from algae: current status and future trends algal biofuels—a status report. Appl. Energ. 88, 3277–3279. Chisti, Y. 2007. ―Biodiesel from microalgae.‖ Biotechnology Advances. (25); pp. 294-306. Christi, Y. 2008. ―Biodiesel from microalgae beats bioethanol.‘‘ Trends in Biotechnology. (25); pp.126-131. Clarens, A.; Resurreccion, E.P.; White, M.A.and Colosi, L.M. (2010). ―Environmental Life Cycle Comparison of Algae to Other Bioenergy Feedstocks.‖ Environ. Sci. Technol. (44); 1813-1819. Gao, G. and Wondraczek, L. 2013. Near-infrared down-conversion in Mn2+-Yb3+ co-doped Zn2GeO4. J. Mater. Chem. C 1, 1952–1958. Gao, G. Reibstein, S. Peng, M. and Wondraczek, L. 2011.Tunable dual-mode photoluminescence from nanocrystalline Eu-doped Li2ZnSiO4 glass ceramic phosphors. J. Mater. Chem. 21,3156–3161. Grosssman, A. R. 2007. ―In the Grip of Algal Genomics.‖ Transgenic Microalgae as Green Cell Factories (Leon, R.; Galvan, A.; Fernandez, E., eds. Austin, TX: Landes Bioscience. Berlin, Germany: Springer Science and Business Media; pp. 54-76. Hoogwijk, M. 2004. On the global and regional potential of renewable energy sources. PhD thesis. Utrecht University. Utrecht, the Netherlands. Hu, Q., M. Sommerfeld, E. Jarvis, M. Ghirardi, M. Posewitz, M. Seibert, and A. Darzins. 2008. Microalgal triacylglcerols as feedstocks for biofuel production: perspectives and advances. Plant J. 54:621-639. Huntley, M.and Redalje, D. 2007. ―CO2 Mitigation and Renewable Oil from Photosynthetic Microbes: A New Appraisal.‖ Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Climate Change. (12:4); pp. 573-608. Hu, Y. Zhuang, W. Ye, H. Zhang, S. Fang, Y. and Huang, X.2005. Preparation and luminescent properties of (Ca1−x,Srx)S:Eu2+ red-emitting phosphor for white LED. J. Lumin. 111,139–145. Jayasankar R, and Valsala KK . 2008. Influence of different concentrations of sodium bicarbonate on growth rate and chlorophyll content of Chlorella salina. J Mar Biol Assoc India 50:74–78 Jeffrey SW, Mantoura RFC and Wright SW.1997. Phytoplankton pigments in oceanography: guidelines to modern methods, vol 10. Monographs on oceanographic methodology. UNESCO Publishing, Paris. Kadam KL. 1997. Power plant flue gas as a source of CO2 for microalgae cultivation: Economic impact of different process options. Energy Conversion and Management 38: S505–S510. Keffer JE, and Kleinheinz GT. 2002. Use of Chlorella vulgaris for CO2 mitigation in a photobioreactor. Journal of Industrial Microbiology and Biotechnology 29: 275–280. Leskela, M. 1998. Rare earths in electroluminescent and field emission display phosphors. J. Alloys Comp. 275, 702–708. Lewis NS, and Nocera DG. 2006. Powering the planet: Chemical challenges in solar energy utilization. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 103:15729–15735. Mohsenpour, S. F. Richards, B. and Willoughby, N. 2012. Spectral conversion of light for enhanced microalgae growth rates and photosynthetic pigment production. Bioresour. Technol. 125,75–81. Packer M. 2009. Algal capture of carbon dioxide: Biomass generation as a tool for greenhouse gas mitigation with reference to New Zealand energy strategy and policy. Energy Policy 37: 3428–3437. Pal D, Khozin-Goldberg I, Cohen Z. and Boussiba , S.2011.The effect of light, salinity, and nitrogen availability on lipid production by Nannochloropsis sp. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 90:1429–1441 Pascal, A. A. et al. 2005. Molecular basis of photoprotection and control of photosynthetic light-harvesting. Nature 436, 134–137. Pauly M. and Keegstra K. 2008. Cell-wall carbohydrates and their modification as a resource for biofuels. Plant Journal 54: 559–568. Peng, M. and Wondraczek, L. 2009. Bismuth-doped oxide glasses as potential solar spectral converters and concentrators. J. Mater. Chem. 19, 627–630. Prokop, A. Quinn, M. F. Fekri, M. Murad, M. and Ahmed, S. A. 1984. Spectral shifting by dyes to enhance algae growth. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 26, 1313–1322. Pulz, O. and Gross, W. 2004. Valuable products from biotechnology of microalgae. Appl. Microbiol. Biotechnol. 65, 635–648. Sayre, R. 2010. Microalgae: the potential for carbon capture. Bioscience 60, 722–727. Sayre RT. and Pereira SL. 2008. Molecular approaches for the optimization of biofuel production. PCT Application No. PCT/US2008/085597. Searchinger T, Heimlich R, Houghton RA, Dong F, Elobeid A, Fabiosa J, Tokgoz S,Hayes D,  And Yu TH. 2008. Use of U.S. croplands for biofuels increases greenhouse gases through emissions from land-use change. Science 319: 1238–1240. Schietinger, S. Aichele, T. Wang, H.-Q. Nann, T. and Benson, O. 2010. Plasmon-enhanced upconversion in single NaYF4:Yb3+/Er3+ codoped nanocrystals. Nano Lett. 10, 134– 138. Singh S, and Kate BN. and Banerjee UC .2005. Bioactive compounds from cyanobacteria and microalgae: an overview. Crit Rev Biotechnol 25:73–95. Smet, P. F. Moreels, I. Zeger, H. and Poelman, D. 2010. Luminescence in sulfides: a rich history and a bright future. Materials 3, 2834–2883. Spalding MH. 2008. Microalgal carbon-dioxide-concentrating mechanisms: Chlamydomonas inorganic carbon transporters. Journal of Experimental Botany 59:1463–1473. Strümpel, C. et al. 2007. Modifying the solar spectrum to enhance silicon solar cell efficiency—An overview of available materials. Sol. Energ. Mater. Sol. Cells 91, 238–249. Torkamani, S. Wani, S. N. Tang, Y. J. and Sureshkumar, R. 2010. Plasmon-enhanced microalgal growth in miniphotobioreactors. Appl. Phys. Lett. 97, 043703. Trupke, T. Green, M. A. and Wurfel, P. 2002. Improving solar cell efficiencies by down- conversion of high-energy photons. J. Appl. Phys. 92, 1668–1674. Van Haecke, J. E. Smet, P. F. De Keyser, K. and Poelman, D.2007. Single crystal CaS:Eu and SrS:Eu luminescent particles obtained by solvothermal synthesis. J. Electrochem. Soc. 154,J278–J282. Walker, T. Purton, S. Becker, and Collet, C. 2005. ―Microalgae as bioreactors.‖ Plant Cell Reports. (24); pp. 629-641. Wang, S.H., ed. 2002. 2002 PEP Yearbook International, Process Economics Program. Menlo Park, CA: SRI Consulting. Ward, O. and Singh, A. 2005. ―Omega-3/6 fatty acids: alternative sources of production.‖ Process Biochemistry. (86); pp. 3627-3652. Wang Z. and Ullrich N, Joo S, Waffenschmidt S, Goodenough U. 2009. Algal lipid bodies: Stress induction, purification, and biochemical characterization in wild-type and starchless Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Eukaryotic Cell 8: 1856–1868. Weyer, K. M. Bush, D. R. Darzins, A. and Willson, B. D. 2010. Theoretical maximum algal oil production. Bioenerg. Res. 3, 204–213. Xia, Q. Batentschuk, M. Osvet, A. Schneider, J. and Winnacker, A. 2009. Quantum yield of Eu2+ emission in (Ca1−x,Srx)S:Eu light emitting diode converter at 20–420 K. Radiat. Meas. 45,350–352. Yu, D. C. Huang, X. Y. Ye, S. Peng, M. Y. Zhang, Q. Y. and Wondraczek, L. 2011. Three- photon near-infrared quantum splitting in β-NaYF4:Ho3+. Appl. Phys. Lett. 99. Read More

There are policies and externalities that have the potential to affect biofuel economics but will not have impact on energy accounting (Chinnasamy, Bhatnagar, Claxton and Das, 2010). In addition, researches have been successfully conducted and it has been established that algae has the potential to produce nutraceutical and pharmaceutical co-products, which have the potential to improve the general economic processes. For the purpose of comparison, co-products have the potential to account for approximately 20% of the energy value generated from ethanol; because co-products are preferred in higher value industries, algal fuels have the potential to have a higher co-product allocation from corn seed (Chisti and Yan 2011). 5.2.1. Integrated Algae Production System Green growth biofuels undertakings oblige plan and designing aptitude that is special to this area of the renewable vitality industry.

Generally few organizations plan, specialist, and production forte process hardware for green growth biofuels ventures on the grounds that this procedure innovation is in the early phases of improvement (Blasse and Grabmaier 1994). The planner must comprehend the complexities and interrelations of the green growth generation and gathering process, the oil extraction process, and the biodiesel refining process that uses the green growth oil. In adjusting these and different components, the creator will focus the kind of procedure innovation the venture will use and, in addition, the force source that will be required (Borowitzka 1999).

Mindful configuration turns out to be significantly more discriminating if the venture site contains existing offices that are to be consolidated into the new generation plant, or if the engineer's arrangements incorporate a co-era framework, i.e., the recuperation of helpful vitality from the biofuels procedures, (for example, the era of power from waste warmth). Given the numerous elements affecting the improvement of a green growth biofuels venture, no single contractual structure will apply to all activities.

A green growth biofuels office that develops the green growth and produces the biodiesel at the same site will have numerous development issues to address (Buesseler et al. 2004). A venture designer may need to hold one builder to give exclusive procedure hardware and a second foreman to embrace the configuration and building of the offset of the plant. The offset of-plant foreman will be in charge of the charging, start-up, and execution testing of the whole office and will give guarantee administrations.

In this game plan, the work of the two builders will be firmly facilitated both in space and in time (Chinnasamy et al. 2010). The equalization of-plant foreman will require data about the forte builder's procedure gear to outline, build, and lay out the whole plant in a manner that monetarily interfaces the different parts to power, controls and information frameworks, and different offices. The offset of-plant foreman will likewise require a conveyance plan for the procedure hardware to figure a calendar for planning establishments and raising procedure gear.

The venture engineer and the claim to fame foreman regularly go into a supply assertions where the builder consents to designer, acquire, and build process hardware segments and convey them to the site on an unequivocal calendar and to give master help with appointing and testing that gear after it is raised and joined with the equalization of-plant offices (Chisti and Yan 2011). The claim to fame builder likewise gives an execution certification measured as far as inputs (counting vitality use) and yields.

The venture engineer then goes into an offset of-plant concurrence with a general foreman who consents to plan and build the other fundamental offices for the undertaking, including establishments, streets, storerooms, biodiesel capacity and stacking offices, and electrical and control frameworks for the whole green growth biofuels office (Chisti 2007).

Read More