ST3-01: Current status and potential for algal biofuels production

One of the activities of IEA Bioenergy Task 39 is to commission state-of-the-art reports on important and relevant clean energy, liquid biofuels technology topics. The recently released IEA Bioenergy report, titled Current Status and Potential for Algal Biofuels Production, examines the technical and economic feasibility of generating algal biomass for the production of liquid biofuels.  The report notes that all of the elements for the production of lipid-based fuels from algae have been demonstrated. Algae can be grown in large outdoor cultures and harvested. The algal biomass will contain a certain percentage of lipids, though not necessarily all in the form of triacylglycerides, and these lipids can be obtained from harvested biomass by known means, albeit with sub optimal yield, cost and thermodynamic efficiencies. Biodiesel (fatty acid methyl esters or FAME), hydrogenation-derived renewable diesel and synthetic jet fuel production from algal lipids have been demonstrated at non-commercial scales. However, there are currently no meaningful amounts of microalgal biofuels produced commercially in the world. There is a need for innovation in all elements of algal biofuels production to address technical inefficiencies, which represent significant challenges to the development of economically viable large-scale algal biofuels enterprises.