Anaerobic conversion of microalgal biomass to sustainable energy carriers--a review

Influence of carbon-based cathodes on biofilm composition and electrochemical performance in soil microbial fuel cells

Increasing energy demands and environmental pollution concerns press for sustainable and environmentally friendly technologies. Soil microbial fuel cell (SMFC) technology has great potential for carbon-neutral bioenergy generation and self-powered electrochemical bioremediation. In this study, an in-depth assessment on the effect of several carbon-based cathode materials on the electrochemical performance of SMFCs is provided for the first time. An innovative carbon nanofibers electrode doped with Fe (CNFFe) is used as cathode material in membrane-less SMFCs, and the performance of the resulting device is compared with SMFCs implementing either Pt-doped carbon cloth (PtC), carbon cloth, or graphite felt (GF) as the cathode. Electrochemical analyses are integrated with microbial analyses to assess the impact on both electrogenesis and microbial composition of the anodic and cathodic biofilm. The results show that CNFFe and PtC generate very stable performances, with a peak power density (with respect to the cathode geometric area) of 25.5 and 30.4 mW m^-2, respectively. The best electrochemical performance was obtained with GF, with a peak power density of 87.3 mW m^-2. Taxonomic profiling of the microbial communities revealed differences between anodic and cathodic communities. The anodes were predominantly enriched with Geobacter and Pseudomonas species, while cathodic communities were dominated by hydrogen-producing and hydrogenotrophic bacteria, indicating H₂ cycling as a possible electron transfer mechanism. The presence of nitrate-reducing bacteria, combined with the results of cyclic voltammograms, suggests microbial nitrate reduction occurred on GF cathodes. The results of this study can contribute to the development of effective SMFC design strategies for field implementation.

Pretreatment of cyanobacterial biomass for the production of biofuel in microbial fuel cells

The present study delves into phototrophic cyanobacterial biomass production by concomitant CO₂ sequestration, selecting an effective pretreatment condition followed by using this as feedstock for green fuel or bioelectricity production by Microbial Fuel Cells (MFC). The performance of the various photobioreactors were put up against Anabaena sp. PCC 7120 biomass production. Maximum microalgal biomass of 1.15 gL^-1 was attained in an airlift bioreactor for 9 days under a light intensity of 100 µEm^-2s^-1. Pretreatment methods like sonication, HCl acid, and H₂O₂ treatment (2 % vv^-1) were applied to digest harvested biomass. Higher power output (6.76 Wm^-3) was attained, and 73.5 % COD was eliminated using 2 % (vv^-1) acid pre-treated biomass. Better results were obtained using acid pre-treated biomass because the conductivity of the anolyte increased with the neutralization of acid-pre-treated biomass. The results demonstrate that cyanobacterial biomass could be employed successfully as a renewable resource for green fuel generation in MFCs.

Data-driven analysis on immobilized microalgae system: New upgrading trends for microalgal wastewater treatment

Microalgal immobilization is receiving increasing attention as one of the most viable alternatives for upgrading conventional wastewater treatment. However, an in-depth discussion of the state-of-the-art and limitations of available technologies is currently lacking. More importantly, the reason for the hesitant development of immobilized microalgae for wastewater treatment remains unclear, which hinders its practical application. Thus, comprehensively understanding and evaluating details on immobilized microalgae is urgently needed, especially for the current advances of immobilization of microalgae in wastewater treatment over the last few decades. In this review, scientometric approach is used to explore research hotspots and visualize emerging trends. Data-driven analysis is used to scientifically and methodically determine hotspots in the current research on immobilized microalgal wastewater treatment, along with that the implicit inner connection underlying the frequent co-occurring terms was explored in depth. Four hotspots focusing on immobilized microalgae for wastewater treatment were identified, mainly demonstrating: (1) main factors including light, temperature and immobilization methods would majorly affect the treatment performance of immobilized microalgae; (2) immobilized microalgae membrane bioreactor, immobilized microalgae-based microbial fuel cell and immobilized microalgae-based bed reactor are three dominant treatment systems; (3) immobilized microalgae have a higher robustness and tolerance for treating various types of wastewater; and (4) a complete sustainable circle from wastewater treatment to resource conversion via the immobilized microalgae can be achieved. Finally, several new directions and new perspectives that expose the necessity for fulfilling further research and fundamental gaps are pointed out. Taken together, this review provides helpful information to facilitate the development of innovative and feasible immobilized microalgal technologies thus increasing their viability and sustainability.

Sustainable, Decentralized Sanitation and Reuse with Hybrid Nature-Based Systems

Nature (ecosystem) based processes for wastewater treatment include constructed wetlands (CWs), waste stabilization ponds, vegetated drainage ditches, buffer zones, instream or bankside river techniques, and mixotrophic systems, where light and CO2 are utilized, in addition to organic carbon compounds, by algal cultures. Algae-based systems can simultaneously remove organic matter, N, and P and may offer substantial energetic advantages compared to traditional biological treatment systems, require small spatial footprint, and contribute to biofuels production and CO2 emissions mitigation. Bioelectrochemical systems (BES) such as microbial fuel cells (MFCs) present characteristics compatible with the use in isolated realities for water and wastewater treatment with contextual energy recovery and may be combined with other nature-based process technologies to achieve good treatment and energy efficiencies. Despite that their application in real-scale plants has not been assessed yet, the most probable outcome will be the in situ/on site treatment (or pretreatment) of wastes for small “in house” plants not connected to the sewerage network. This paper focuses on the current practices and perspectives of hybrid nature-based systems, such as constructed wetlands and microalgae integrated phytoremediation plants, and their possible integration with microbial electrochemical technologies to increase recovery possibilities from wastes and positively contribute to a green economy approach.

A Review of Algae-Based Produced Water Treatment for Biomass and Biofuel Production

Produced water (PW), the largest waste stream generated in oil and gas industries, has the potential to be a harmless product rather than being a waste. Biological processes using microorganisms have proven useful to remediate PW contaminated by petroleum hydrocarbons, complex organic chemicals, and solvents. In particular, the bioremediation of PW using algae is an eco-friendly and low-cost approach due to algae’s ability to utilize certain pollutants as nutrient sources. Therefore, the utilization of PW as an algal growth medium has a great potential to eliminate chemicals from the PW and minimize the large volumes of freshwater needed for cultivation. Although several reviews describing the bioremediation of PW have been published, to the best of our knowledge, no review has exclusively focused on the algae-based PW treatment. Therefore, the present review is dedicated to filling this gap by portraying the many different facets of the algae cultivation in PW. Several algal species that are known to thrive in a wide range of salinity and the critical steps for their cultivation in hypersaline PW have been identified. Overall, this comprehensive review highlights the PW bioremediation using algae and brings attention to utilizing PW to grow biomass that can be processed to generate biofuels and useful bioproducts.

Fermentative hydrogen production and bioelectricity generation from food based industrial waste: An integrative approach

In the present study, isolation and identification of hydrogen producing strains from sugar and food industry wastewater were reported. From 48 isolates in both the wastewater, initial batch studies led to the use of four effective strains, which were identified using 16S rRNA gene sequencing as Bacillus thuringiensis-FH1, Comamonas testosteroni-FB1, Klebsiella pneumoniae-FA2 and Bacillus cereus-SB2, respectively. Further optimization studies were done at various pH values (5-8) and wastewater concentrations (10-100%). In the optimized batch experimentation, K. pneumoniae-FA2 excelled with the maximum cumulative hydrogen production of 880.93 ± 44.0 mL/L. A 3 L bioreactor was employed for effective hydrogen production, which conferred that K. pneumoniae-FA2, surpassed the other three with the maximum hydrogen yield of 3.79 ± 0.04 mol H₂/mol glucose. Bioelectricity production by K. pneumoniae-FA2 was also investigated in the microbial fuel cell at the optimized conditions to demonstrate its versatility in energy applications.

Potential applications of algae in the cathode of microbial fuel cells for enhanced electricity generation with simultaneous nutrient removal and algae biorefinery: Current status and future perspectives

Production of biofuels and other value-added products from wastewater along with quality treatment is an uttermost necessity to achieve environmental sustainability and promote bio-circular economy. Algae-Microbial fuel cell (A-MFC) with algae in cathode chamber offers several advantages e.g. photosynthetic oxygenation for electricity recovery, CO₂-fixation, wastewater treatment, etc. However, performance of A-MFC depends on several operational parameters and also on electrode materials types; therefore, enormous collective efforts have been made by researchers for finding optimal conditions in order to enhance A-MFC performance. The present review is a comprehensive snapshot of the recent advances in A-MFCs, dealing two major parts: 1) the power generation, which exclusively outlines the effect of different parameters and development of cutting edge cathode materials and 2) wastewater treatment at cathode of A-MFC. This review provides fundamental knowledge, critical constraints, current status and some insights for making A-MFC technology a reality at commercial scale operation.

Photosystem I fluorescence as a physiological indicator of hydrogen production in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii

This study investigated the interrelations between hydrogen synthesis and Photosystem I electron transport rate in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. The fluorescence of both photosystems (PS I and PS II) was monitored using a Dual Pulse Amplitude Modulated (PAM) Fluorometer. Hydrogen synthesis was induced by eliminating sulphur from the growth media (TAP-S). Multiple physiological parameters [rETR, Y (I), Y (II), NPQ, α, F_v/F_m and YI:YII] were recorded using the Dual PAM and correlated to hydrogen produced. There was a 66% increase in Photosystem I rETR_max during hydrogen production. A significant direct correlation existed between PS 1 rETR_max and hydrogen evolution values over the ten-day period (r = 0.895, p < 0.01) indicating that PS I can be considered as a driver of H₂ production. Significant correlations between rETR_max of PS I and H₂ evolution suggest a novel physiological indicator to monitor H₂ production during the three critical phases identified in this study.

Modulation of Intracellular O2 Concentration in Escherichia coli Strains Using Oxygen Consuming Devices

The use of cell factories for the production of bulk and value-added compounds is nowadays an advantageous alternative to the traditional petrochemical methods. Nevertheless, the efficiency and productivity of several of these processes can improve with the implementation of micro-oxic or anoxic conditions. In the industrial setting, laccases are appealing catalysts that can oxidize a wide range of substrates and reduce O₂ to H₂O. In this work, several laccase-based devices were designed and constructed to modulate the intracellular oxygen concentration in bacterial chassis. These oxygen consuming devices (OCDs) included Escherichia coli's native laccase (CueO) and three variants of this protein obtained by directed evolution. The OCDs were initially characterized in vitro using E. coli DH5α protein extracts and subsequently using extracts obtained from other E. coli strains and in vivo. Upon induction of the OCDs, no major effect on growth was observed in four of the strains tested, and analysis of the cell extract protein profiles revealed increased levels of laccase. Moreover, oxygen consumption associated with the OCDs occurred under all of the conditions tested, but the performance of the devices was shown to be strain-dependent, highlighting the importance of the genetic background even in closely related strains. One of the laccase variants showed 13- and 5-fold increases in oxidase activity and O₂ consumption rate, respectively. Furthermore, it was also possible to demonstrate O₂ consumption in vivo using l-DOPA as the substrate, which represents a proof of concept that these OCDs generate an intracellular oxygen sink, thereby manipulating the redox status of the cells. In addition, the modularity and orthogonality principles used for the development of these devices allow easy reassembly and fine-tuning, foreseeing their introduction into other chassis/systems.

Combining biotechnology with circular bioeconomy: From poultry, swine, cattle, brewery, dairy and urban wastewaters to biohydrogen

The ability of microalgae to grow in nutrient-rich environments and to accumulate nutrients from wastewaters (WW) makes them attractive for the sustainable and low-cost treatment of WW. The valuable biomass produced can be further used for the generation of bioenergy, animal feed, fertilizers, and biopolymers, among others. In this study, Scenedesmus obliquus was able to remove nutrients from different wastewaters (poultry, swine and cattle breeding, brewery and dairy industries, and urban) with removal ranges of 95-100% for nitrogen, 63-99% for phosphorus and 48-70% for chemical oxygen demand. The biomass productivity using wastewaters was higher (except for poultry) than in synthetic medium (Bristol), the highest value being obtained in brewery wastewater (1025 mg/(L.day) of freeze-dried biomass). The produced biomass contained 31-53% of proteins, 12-36% of sugars and 8-23% of lipids, regardless of the type of wastewater. The potential of the produced Scenedesmus obliquus biomass for the generation of BioH₂ through batch dark fermentation processes with Enterobacter aerogenes was evaluated. The obtained yields ranged, in mL H₂/g Volatile Solids (VS), from 50.1 for biomass from anaerobically digested cattle WW to 390 for swine WW, whereas the yield with biomass cultivated in Bristol medium was 57.6 mL H₂/g_VS.

Adsorption dynamics and mechanism of aqueous sulfachloropyridazine and analogues using the root powder of recyclable long-root Eichhornia crassipes

In this study, we reclaimed the root powder of long-root Eichhornia crassipes (L.R.E.C.) as a biosorbent to remove aqueous sulfachloropyridazine (SCP) and other sulfonamides. The adsorption processes were investigated dependent on multiple measurements, including FT-IR and XPS analysis. The results confirmed that the basic amine group of neutral SCP molecules and the carboxyl hydroxyl on the surface of the root powder played the leading role in adsorption processes. Additionally, the experiments of ionic strength effect validated the involvement of electrostatic interaction in adsorption. Meanwhile, the adsorption data were fitted by various models and the results indicated that the Pseudo-second-order model and Freundlich model could well describe the adsorption processes, indicating the existence of physisorption and chemisorption as multi-layer adsorption. The maximum capacities of root powder for SCP were calculated to be 226.757 μg g^-1 (288.15 K), 182.815 μg g^-1 (303.15 K) and 163.132 μg g^-1 (318.15 K) at pH of 3.0. The thermodynamic results revealed that the adsorption was a spontaneous and exothermic process. Moreover, the accordance with intra-particle diffusion presented that the adsorption processes could be divided into three steps and the reaction constant had a negatively linear relationship with the thickness of the boundary layer. The results proved that root powder of L.R.E.C. has great potential to remediate sulfonamides at practical level.

Fermentative hydrogen production using pretreated microalgal biomass as feedstock

Microalgae are simple chlorophyll containing organisms, they have high photosynthetic efficiency and can synthesize and accumulate large quantities of carbohydrate biomass. They can be cultivated in fresh water, seawater and wastewater. They have been used as feedstock for producing biodiesel, bioethanol and biogas. The production of these biofuels can be integrated with CO2 mitigation, wastewater treatment, and the production of high-value chemicals. Biohydrogen from microalgae is renewable. Microalgae have several advantages compared to terrestrial plants, such as higher growth rate with superior CO2 fixation capacity; they do not need arable land to grow; they do not contain lignin. In this review, the biology of microalgae and the chemical composition of microalgae were briefly introduced, the advantages and disadvantages of hydrogen production from microalgae were discussed, and the pretreatment of microalgal biomass and the fermentative hydrogen production from microalgal biomass pretreated by different methods (including physical, chemical, biological and combined methods) were summarized and evaluated. For the production of biohydrogen from microalgae, the economic feasibility remains the most important aspect to consider. Several technological and economic issues must be addressed to achieve success on a commercial scale.

Combined pretreatment of electrolysis and ultra-sonication towards enhancing solubilization and methane production from mixed microalgae biomass

This study investigated the effect of combination of pretreatment methods such as ultra-sonication and electrolysis for the minimum energy input to recover the maximal carbohydrate and solubilization (in terms of sCOD) from mixed microalgae biomass. The composition of the soluble chemical oxygen demand (COD), protein, carbohydrate revealed that the hydrolysis method had showed positive impact on the increasing quantity and thus enhanced methane yields. As a result, the combination of these 2 pretreatments showed the greatest yield of soluble protein and carbohydrate as 279 and 309mg/L, which is the recovery of nearly 85 and 90% in terms of total content of them. BMP tests showed peak methane production yield of 257mL/gVS_added, for the hydrolysate of combined pretreatment as compared to the control experiment of 138mL/gVS added.

A comparative study on biochemical methane potential of algal substrates: Implications of biomass pre-treatment and product extraction

Dried powdered algae (SDPA), heat treated algae (MHTA), lipid extracted algae (LEA) and protein extracted algae (PEA) were digested to determine biomethane potential. The average CH₄ production rate was ∼2.5-times higher for protein and lipid extracted algae than for whole algae (SDPA and MHTA) whilst the cumulative CH₄ production was higher for pre-treated algae. Highest cumulative CH₄ production (318.7mlCH₄g^-1VS) was observed for MHTA followed by SDPA (307.4mlCH₄g^-1VS). CH₄/CO₂ ratios of 1.5 and 0.7 were observed for MHTA and LEA respectively. Pre-treatment processes disrupted the algal cell wall, exposing intracellular material which remained intact as opposed to product extraction processes which broke down the intracellular compounds resulting in changes in elemental composition and decreases the cumulative gas yield and CH₄/CO₂ ratio. Comparative analysis determined that the most profitable route of biomass utilisation was protein extraction followed by biogas production giving ∼2.5-times higher return on investment.

A Holistic Approach to Managing Microalgae for Biofuel Applications

Microalgae contribute up to 60% of the oxygen content in the Earth’s atmosphere by absorbing carbon dioxide and releasing oxygen during photosynthesis. Microalgae are abundantly available in the natural environment, thanks to their ability to survive and grow rapidly under harsh and inhospitable conditions. Microalgal cultivation is environmentally friendly because the microalgal biomass can be utilized for the productions of biofuels, food and feed supplements, pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals, and cosmetics. The cultivation of microalgal also can complement approaches like carbon dioxide sequestration and bioremediation of wastewaters, thereby addressing the serious environmental concerns. This review focuses on the factors affecting microalgal cultures, techniques adapted to obtain high-density microalgal cultures in photobioreactors, and the conversion of microalgal biomass into biofuels. The applications of microalgae in carbon dioxide sequestration and phycoremediation of wastewater are also discussed.

Biochemical compositions and fatty acid profiles in four species of microalgae cultivated on household sewage and agro-industrial residues

The potential of four regional microalgae species was evaluated in relation to their cell growth and biomass production when cultured in the following alternative media: bio-composts of fruit/horticultural wastes (HB), sugarcane waste and vinasse (VB) chicken excrements (BCE), raw chicken manure (RCM), and municipal domestic sewage (MDS). The cultures were maintained under controlled conditions and their growth responses, productivities, biochemical compositions, and the ester profiles of their biomasses were compared to the results obtained in the synthetic media. The MDS and HB media demonstrated promising results for cultivation, especially of Chlorella sp., Chlamydomonas sp., and Lagerheimia longiseta, which demonstrated productivities superior to those seen when grown on the control media. The highest lipid levels were obtained with the HB medium. The data obtained demonstrated the viability of cultivating microalgae and producing biomass in alternative media prepared from MDS and HB effluents to produce biodiesel.

Biohydrogen and methane production via a two-step process using an acid pretreated native microalgae consortium

A native microalgae consortium treated under thermal-acidic hydrolysis was used to produce hydrogen and methane in a two-step sequential process. Different acid concentrations were tested, generating hydrogen and methane yields of up to 45mLH₂gVS^-1 and 432mLCH₄gVS^-1, respectively. The hydrogen production step solubilized the particulate COD (chemical oxygen demand) up to 30%, creating considerable amounts of volatile fatty acids (up to 10gCODL^-1). It was observed that lower acid concentration presented higher hydrogen and methane production potential. The results revealed that thermal acid hydrolysis of a native microalgae consortium is a simple but effective strategy for producing hydrogen and methane in the sequential process. In addition to COD removal (50-70%), this method resulted in an energy recovery of up to 15.9kJ per g of volatile solids of microalgae biomass, one of the highest reported.

Optimised biogas production from microalgae through co-digestion with carbon-rich co-substrates

Microalgae can be used to upgrade biogas to biomethane and subsequently be digested for biogas production. However, the low C:N ratio of species such as Arthrospira platensis may cause ammonia inhibition and low process stability during anaerobic digestion. This study investigates co-fermentation of A. platensis with carbon-rich co-substrates (barley straw, beet silage and brown seaweed) at a C:N ratio of 25 to enhance biomass conversion. No synergistic effects on biomethane potential could be proven in batch fermentation tests. However continuous digestion trials showed significantly improved process stability. Mono-digestion of A. platensis was stable only at an organic loading of 1.0gVSL(-1)d(-1). The optimum process co-digested A. platensis with seaweed and achieved stable operation at an organic loading of 4.0gVSL(-1)d(-1). Co-digestion of microalgae and seaweed can be effectively applied to integrated coastal biomethane systems.

Inhibition of residual n-hexane in anaerobic digestion of lipid-extracted microalgal wastes and microbial community shift

Converting lipid-extracted microalgal wastes to methane (CH4) via anaerobic digestion (AD) has the potential to make microalgae-based biodiesel platform more sustainable. However, it is apparent that remaining n-hexane (C6H14) from lipid extraction could inhibit metabolic pathway of methanogens. To test an inhibitory influence of residual n-hexane, this study conducted a series of batch AD by mixing lipid-extracted Chlorella vulgaris with a wide range of n-hexane concentration (∼10 g chemical oxygen demand (COD)/L). Experimental results show that the inhibition of n-hexane on CH4 yield was negligible up to 2 g COD/L and inhibition to methanogenesis became significant when it was higher than 4 g COD/L based on quantitative mass balance. Inhibition threshold was about 4 g COD/L of n-hexane. Analytical result of microbial community profile revealed that dominance of alkane-degrading sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) and syntrophic bacteria increased, while that of methanogens sharply dropped as n-hexane concentration increased. These findings offer a useful guideline of threshold n-hexane concentration and microbial community shift for the AD of lipid-extracted microalgal wastes.

Butanol fermentation from microalgae-derived carbohydrates after ionic liquid extraction

Lipid extracted algae (LEA) is an attractive feedstock for alcohol fuel production as it is a non-food crop which is largely composed of readily fermented carbohydrates like starch rather than the more recalcitrant lignocellulosic materials currently under intense development. This study compares the suitability of ionic liquid extracted algae (ILEA) and hexane extracted algae (HEA) for acetone, butanol, and ethanol (ABE) fermentation. The highest butanol titers (8.05 g L(-1)) were achieved with the fermentation of the acid hydrolysates of HEA, however, they required detoxification to support product formation after acid hydrolysis while ILEA did not. Direct ABE fermentation of ILEA and HEA (without detoxification) starches resulted in a butanol titer of 4.99 and 6.63 g L(-1), respectively, which significantly simplified the LEA to butanol process. The study demonstrated the compatibility of producing biodiesel and butanol from a single feedstock which may help reduce the feedstock costs of each individual process.

Use of diluted urine for cultivation of Chlorella vulgaris

Our aim was to study the biomass growth of microalga Chlorella vulgaris using diluted human urine as a sole nutrient source. Batch cultivations (21 days) were conducted in five different urine dilutions (1:25-1:300), in 1:100-diluted urine as such and with added trace elements, and as a reference, in artificial growth medium. The highest biomass density was obtained in 1:100-diluted urine with and without additional trace elements (0.73 and 0.60 g L(-1), respectively). Similar biomass growth trends and densities were obtained with 1:25- and 1:300-diluted urine (0.52 vs. 0.48 gVSS L(-1)) indicating that urine at dilution 1:25 can be used to cultivate microalgal based biomass. Interestingly, even 1:300-diluted urine contained sufficiently nutrients and trace elements to support biomass growth. Biomass production was similar despite pH-variation from < 5 to 9 in different incubations indicating robustness of the biomass growth. Ammonium formation did not inhibit overall biomass growth. At the beginning of cultivation, the majority of the biomass consisted of living algal cells, while towards the end, their share decreased and the estimated share of bacteria and cell debris increased.

Microalgae-bacteria flocs (MaB-Flocs) as a substrate for fermentative biogas production

Biogas production from the microalgae-bacteria flocs (MaB-Flocs) in batch reactors was conducted in this study. A batch test was performed to determine optimum inoculums that were taken from a running biogas plant (BP), a municipal wastewater treatment plant (MWTP) and a river sediment (RS). The maximum biogas yield (304.83±4.23 mL per gram volatile solids introduced (mL g-VS(-1))) was obtained with the inoculum from MWTP. Subsequently, the effect of substrate-inoculum (S/I) ratios, temperature and pre-treatment methods on fermentative biogas and methane production was investigated. The optimum S/I ratios and incubation temperature were determined as 0.2 g VS(substrate)/g VS(inoculum) and 37±1°C, respectively. The results of the CH4 fermentation show that the methane yields could be increased from 216.72±3.52 mL CH4 g-VS(-1) to 271.34±6.65 mL g-VS(-1) by using enzymatic pre-treatment at the S/I ratio of 0.2 g VS(substrate)/g VS(inoculum) and mesophilic conditions.

Ionic liquid-based green processes for energy production

To mitigate the growing pressure on resource depletion and environment degradation, the development of green processes for the production of renewable energy is highly required. As a class of novel and promising media, ionic liquids (ILs) have shown infusive potential applications in energy production. Aiming to offer a critical overview regarding the new challenges and opportunities of ILs for developing green processes of renewable energy, this article emphasises the role of ILs as catalysts, solvents, or electrolytes in three broadly interesting energy production processes from renewable resources, such as CO2 conversion to fuels and fuel additives, biomass pretreatment and conversion to biofuels, as well as solar energy and energy storage. It is expected that this article will stimulate a generation of new ideas and new technologies in IL-based renewable energy production.

Anaerobic digestion of marine microalgae in different salinity levels

In the context of biofuel production from marine microalgae, anaerobic digestion has the potential to make the process more sustainable and to increase energy efficiency. However, the use of salt-containing microalgae organic residues entails the presence of salts which inhibits methanogenesis. The search for suitable anaerobic microbial consortium adapted to saline conditions can boost the anaerobic conversion into methane. The anaerobic digestion performance of three different anaerobic microbial consortia was assessed in batch tests at different salinities between 15 and 150 g L(-1) and for three successive substrate additions. After an acclimation period, the methane (CH4) yield of the halophilic methanogens at 35 g L(-1) of salinity was close to the reference value without salt addition. Above 75 g L(-1) of salinity, methanogenesis was considerably slowed down. The results underline that methane production from halophilic sediment can be envisaged and promoted for practical application at a seawater concentration.

Enhancement of Taihu blue algae anaerobic digestion efficiency by natural storage

Taihu blue algae after different storage time from 0 to 60 d were anaerobic fermented to evaluate their digestibility and process stability. Results showed that anaerobic digestion (AD) of blue algae under 15 d natural storage led to the highest CH4 production of 287.6 mL g(-1) VS at inoculum substrate ratio 2.0, demonstrating 36.69% improvement comparing with that from fresh algae. Storage of blue algae led to cell death, microcystins (MCs) release and VS reduction by spontaneous fermentation. However, it also played an important role in removing algal cell wall barrier, pre-hydrolysis and pre-acidification, leading to the improvement in CH4 yield. Closer examination of volatile fatty acids (VFA) variation, VS removal rates and key enzymes change during AD proved short storage time (≤ 15 d) of blue algae had higher efficiencies in biodegradation and methanation. Furthermore, AD presented significant biodegradation potential for MCs released from Taihu blue algae.

Bacterial bioaugmentation for improving methane and hydrogen production from microalgae

BACKGROUND

The recalcitrant cell walls of microalgae may limit their digestibility for bioenergy production. Considering that cellulose contributes to the cell wall recalcitrance of the microalgae Chlorella vulgaris, this study investigated bioaugmentation with a cellulolytic and hydrogenogenic bacterium, Clostridium thermocellum, at different inoculum ratios as a possible method to improve CH4 and H2 production of microalgae.

RESULTS

Methane production was found to increase by 17?~?24% with the addition of C. thermocellum, as a result of enhanced cell disruption and excess hydrogen production. Furthermore, addition of C. thermocellum enhanced the bacterial diversity and quantities, leading to higher fermentation efficiency. A two-step process of addition of C. thermocellum first and methanogenic sludge subsequently could recover both hydrogen and methane, with a 9.4% increase in bioenergy yield, when compared with the one-step process of simultaneous addition of C. thermocellum and methanogenic sludge. The fluorescence peaks of excitation-emission matrix spectra associated with chlorophyll can serve as biomarkers for algal cell degradation.

CONCLUSIONS

Bioaugmentation with C. thermocellum improved the degradation of C. vulgaris biomass, producing higher levels of methane and hydrogen. The two-step process, with methanogenic inoculum added after the hydrogen production reached saturation, was found to be an energy-efficiency method for hydrogen and methane production.

Performance of a flat panel reactor in the continuous culture of microalgae in urban wastewater: prediction from a batch experiment

A laboratory-scale flat panel photobioreactor was operated for the continuous growth of Scenedesmus obliquus and consequent removal of nutrients in wastewater. This study develops a simple model by which biomass values in continuous operation can be predicted from kinetic growth parameters obtained from a shorter batch experiment. Based on this study, biomass concentrations and productivities in continuous operation can be successfully predicted as a function of the specific hydraulic retention time (HRT) assumed. Considerable biomass production and nutrient uptake from wastewater were achieved in the experiment. Optimum operating conditions for the reactor depend on the particular objective: the maximization of biomass production and carbon dioxide biofixation involves a HRT of 2 μ(-1) (specific growth rate), whereas efficient nutrient removal involves a HRT as close as possible to μ(-1) (as long as discharges comply fully with the parameters set); alternatively biomass intended for biodiesel or biogas production would involve a HRT > 2 μ(-1).