About this Research Topic
Globally governments are committed to lowering their carbon footprint by reducing their reliance on fossil fuels and increasing their investment in renewable energy resources. Presently most countries employ first and second generation of biofuels. However, the use of these technologies is widely contested since first-generation biofuels compete with food grains, whereas the technologies to produce second-generation biofuels from crop residues are not mature enough to make the process cost-effective. In this regard, microalgal biomass has garnered much interest, to develop bioproducts and biofuels, owing to their high carbon sequestration capacities, minimal nutrients required for growth, relatively fast growth rate, ease of cultivation, as well as capacity to grow even on marginal land. Moreover, algae are cost-effective in terms of infrastructure development and maintenance. Thus, the development of mature microalgal supply chains appears integral towards the promulgation of sustainable societies.
There is a growing need to document the important developments in, and potentials of microalgal biomass as a major resource of the future. The present Research Topic will focus on recent advances to overcome the current bottlenecks in the algal supply chain for the production of biomass, including but not limited to cultivation, harvesting, and drying of the algal biomass, design of photobioreactors, life cycle assessments, techno-economic feasibility of the process, and development of biomass-based bioproducts. Strategies are needed to minimize the overall biofuels production cost and energy requirement, reducing the water footprint, and making the overall process environment friendly and sustainable. The topic would also encourage articles focused on the development of strategic policies to prepare the markets to accept the new and emerging technologies.
The Research Topic will broadly focus on all the aspects of the cultivation and production of algal (microalgae and macroalgae) biomass and biofuels. Accordingly, the submission of Original Research articles, Review articles, and Case Reports, that broadly cover the following topics will be encouraged:
1. Microalgal supply chain
2. Advancements in cultivation and downstream processing
3. Algal biomass production coupled with wastewater treatment
4. CO2 sequestration
5. Innovations in bioreactor design
6. Advancements and improvements in the development of algal bioproducts and biofuels
7. Liquid and gaseous biofuels production
8. New and emerging applications with the microalgal biomass
9. Techno-economic analysis and life cycles assessments
10. Development of strategic policies to integrate the emerging technologies in the present markets
11. Molecular and metabolic engineering towards the development of model chassis for bioproduct generation
There is a growing need to document the important developments in, and potentials of microalgal biomass as a major resource of the future. The present Research Topic will focus on recent advances to overcome the current bottlenecks in the algal supply chain for the production of biomass, including but not limited to cultivation, harvesting, and drying of the algal biomass, design of photobioreactors, life cycle assessments, techno-economic feasibility of the process, and development of biomass-based bioproducts. Strategies are needed to minimize the overall biofuels production cost and energy requirement, reducing the water footprint, and making the overall process environment friendly and sustainable. The topic would also encourage articles focused on the development of strategic policies to prepare the markets to accept the new and emerging technologies.
The Research Topic will broadly focus on all the aspects of the cultivation and production of algal (microalgae and macroalgae) biomass and biofuels. Accordingly, the submission of Original Research articles, Review articles, and Case Reports, that broadly cover the following topics will be encouraged:
1. Microalgal supply chain
2. Advancements in cultivation and downstream processing
3. Algal biomass production coupled with wastewater treatment
4. CO2 sequestration
5. Innovations in bioreactor design
6. Advancements and improvements in the development of algal bioproducts and biofuels
7. Liquid and gaseous biofuels production
8. New and emerging applications with the microalgal biomass
9. Techno-economic analysis and life cycles assessments
10. Development of strategic policies to integrate the emerging technologies in the present markets
11. Molecular and metabolic engineering towards the development of model chassis for bioproduct generation
Keywords: Algal cultivation, Bioreactor, Open ponds, Biofuels, Techno-economic analysis, Carbon dioxide capture
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
