Cyclotella sp. PROSPECTS OF DIATOMS AS THIRD GENERATION BIOFUEL Shilpi Samantray 1, Aakanksha 2, Supriya Guruprasad 1 & T.V Ramachandra 1 1 Energy & Wetland Research Group, Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 2 Birla Institute of Technology, Ranchi 1 Images: Google Diatom photo source : 2010 Alakananda B
BIOFUEL Biofuel Solid Biofuels Liquid Biofuels Gaseous Biofuels Non Polluting Biorenewable Feedstocks Accessible Reliable Sustainable Locally available 2 Images: Google
NEED OF BIOFUEL Conventional Energy CO2 emission Anticipated scarcity of crude oil Cleaner, Sustainable & Cost-effective Renewable Energy Alternatives Meet the need of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs 3
BIODIESEL PRODUCTION Monoalkyl esters of vegetable oils/animal fats/ algal biomass Parent Oil Highly Viscous Chemical conversion of oil to its corresponding fatty acid ester (biodiesel) 4
ENERGY SCENARIO OF THE WORLD Year Global Oil production and consumption, 1960-2050 5 Source : http://www.futurist.com/articles-archive/environment-and-energy/energy-thefuture-and-us/
First Generation Biofuel Food crops Brassica napus Elaeis guineensis Glycine max Require high cropping area Compete with food crops and water use Low productivity, Eg- Glycine max yield 446 L/Ha 6 Images: Google
Second generation biofuel Non-Food crops Jatropha curcas Panicum virgatum Miscanthus giganteus Do not compete with food crops Need Large cultivation area and water for growth Productivity is not enough to meet the increasing demand Eg Jatropha curcas yield 1892 L/Ha 7 Images: Google
Third Generation Biofuel Microalgae, Diatoms Cymbella sp. Cyclotella sp. Fragilaria sp. Do not compete with Food crops and water use Do not need large cultivation area for their growth Very high productivity Microalgae yield 1,36,900 L/Ha 8 Diatom photo source : 2010 Alakananda B
ADVANTAGES OF THIRD GENERATION BIOFUEL OVER FIRST & SECOND GENERATION High Photosynthetic Efficiency Directly used in diesel engines Extremely rapid growth rate, requiring lesser cultivation area Can grow on marginal lands Can thrive in water of widely varying salinities & chemical composition 9
Annual biomass productivity of microalgae per unit land area can greatly exceed that of terrestrial plants Biomass Oil Yield ( L/ha ) Microalgae 1,36,900 Terrestrial Plants Jatropha curcas Elaeis oleifera 1892 5952 Source : Chisti et al. 2007 Simpler downstream processing steps Continuous, year round production Reduce greenhouse gas emission 10
DIATOMS 25% Global CO2 fixation O2 1 Cyclotella sp. Sunlight driven Cell Factory Lipid Images: Google Transesterification Source 1 : Ramachandra et al. 2009 Diatom photo source : 2010 Alakananda B 11
Extraction of Biodiesel from Diatom Lipid Diatom Isolation Cell Wall Disruption Diatom Lipid Methanol + KOH Methane Recovery Transesterification Crude Glycerine Glycerine Refining Crude Biodiesel Refining Glycerine Biodiesel 12
FACTORS INFLUENCING THE PRODUCTIVITY Environmental Conditions Biotic Interactions ph Temperature Light Nutrient Stress (N, Si, C, P, Fe, Salt etc) Interaction of diatoms, cyanobacteria and Chemo-organotrophic bacteria 13 Source : Brehm et al. 2003
Conclusion Cyclotella sp. Fragilaria sp. Cymbella sp. Pinnularia sp. 14 Images: Google Diatom photo source : 2010 Alakananda B
REFERENCES Bozarth,A., Maier,U.G.,Zauner,S.(2009).Diatoms in biotechnology: modern tools and applications. Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology,82:195-201. Gouveia,L.,Oliveira,A.C. (2009) Microalgae as a raw material for biofuels production. Journal of Industrial Microbiology and Biotechnology,36:269-274. Hossain,A.B.M.S., Salleh,A.,Boyce,A.N., Chowdhury,P.,Naqiuddin,M. (2008)Biodiesel Fuel Production from Algae as Renewable Energy. American Journal of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, 4(3):250-254. Ulrike Brehm Wolfgang E. Krumbein Katarzyna A. Palinska (2003) Microbial spheres: a novel cyanobacterial-diatom symbiosis. Institute for Chemistry and Biology of the Marine Environment, 90:136 140. Chisti,Y.(2007). Biodiesel from microalgae. Biotechnology Advances, 25:294-306. Smith, V.H., Sturm, B.S.M, DeNoyelles, F.J., Billings, S.A. (2009). The ecology of algal biodiesel production. Trends in Ecology and Evolution, Vol.25 No.5. Scott, S.A., Davey, M.P., Dennis, J.S., Horst, I., Howe, C.J., Lea-Smith, D.J.,Smith, A.G.(2010). Biodiesel from algae Challenges and Prospects.Current Opinion in Biotechnology, 21:277-286. Khan,S.A., Rashmi,Hussain,M.Z.,Prasad,S.,Banerjee,U.C.(2009).Prospects of Biodiesel Production from Microalgae in India. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews,13:2361-2372. Demirbas,A., Demirbas,M.F.(2010).Importance of algae oil as a source of biodiesel. Energy Conversion and Management, 52:163-170. 15
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