Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
evaluation system; (2) investigations into the mechanism and regulation of
photosynthesis, CO
2
capture, and lipid synthesis; (3) design of advanced photobi-
oreactors; (4) process optimization and mass scale cultivation system; (5) selection
of cost-effective technologies for biomass harvesting and drying; (6) integrative
exploitation of the components after lipid extraction; (7) an economic and envi-
ronmental evaluation; and (8) a technical route and research platform for highly
efficient and cost-effective commercialization of microalgal biofuel production [
2
].
Targeting these crucial bottlenecks, the Chinese government has provided
significant funding support to encourage multi-disciplinary approaches for
research assessment of the complete algal biofuel production chain. In 2009, the
National High-Technology Development Program of China (''863'' Program)
sponsored the ''CO
2
-Microalgae-Fuels'' project, in which existing and new tech-
nologies are being tested to assess the potential of using lipid-producing micro-
algae for industrial-scale fixation of CO
2
. In late 2010, the National Science and
Technology Support Program of China supported the ''Research and demonstra-
tion of key technologies in feedstock development and low-cost cultivation of
energy algae''. In 2011, the National Basic Research Development Program
of China (''973'' Program) funded the ''Scientific foundation for mass production
of microalgal energy'', a project in which a large research consortium consisting of
over a dozen universities, research institutes and commercial entities was founded
for collaboration in examining the scientific basis of large-scale energy production
from microalgae. Meanwhile, the ''Solar Energy Action Plan'', from the Chinese
Academy of Sciences (CAS), has funded the development of production systems
for microalgal biodiesel and microalgal alkenes. In addition, China Petrochemical
Corporation (Sinopec) and CAS have formed a joint venture to develop the key
enabling technologies for large-scale production of microalgal biodiesel.
These past public and industrial funding programs in China have reported some
initial successes, such as promising lipid production strains [
31
,
32
], microalgal
autotrophic culture optimization [
33
-
45
], open production systems (raceway
ponds; [
46
]), fermentation-based microalgal biodiesel production [
47
-
53
] and new
photobioreactor designs [
54
-
59
]. Moreover, the use of waste CO
2
from power
plants to enhance production has been shown to be technically feasible, and hence
may be deployed to reduce production costs and for greenhouse gas (GHG)
emission control [
60
]. Furthermore, concurrent extraction of valuable co-products
(e.g., b-carotene, PUFA, biofertilizers, among others) with biofuel production has
significant potential to narrow the gap between microalgal oil cost and fossil fuel
price [
2
].
7 Conclusions and Perspectives
In summary, the prerequisite of productive feedstock development for microalgal
biofuels is to select and establish the research model system on functional
genomics, so as to better understand the regulatory network under a series of
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