Algae fastest-growing plants competitive as a source for biofuel can be grown almost anywhere, even on sewage or salt water,

and does not requirefertile land or food crops, and processing requires less energy than the algae provides about 50% of their weight is oil-algae contain anywhere between 2%
and 40% of lipids/oils by weight

trend is towards using alternate energy sources-Reducing the use of fossil

fuels, reduce the amount of carbon dioxide and other pollutantsproduced clean and environmentally safe extensiveuse of vegetable oils may cause other significant problemssuch as starvation in developing countries. algae are among the most photosyntheticallyefficient plants on earth-very efficient solar energy converters They are categorized intofour main classes: diatoms, green algae, blue-green algae and goldenalgae. There are two main populations of algae: filamentous andphytoplankton algae. These two species, in particular phytoplankton,increase in numbers rapidly to form algae blooms. Industrial reactors-openponds, photobioreactors and closed systems. Photobioreactors aredifferent types of tanks or closed systems in which algae are cultivated. Open pond systems are shallow ponds in which algae are cultivated. closed systems, - capital intensive-only when a fine chemical is to be produced-because of the infrastructure costs yield of oilfrom algae is over 200 times the yield from the best-performingplant/vegetable oils. potential to yield19,00057,000 l of microalgal oil per acre per year production of microalgal biodiesel requires large quantitiesof algal biomass. none of the projected algae and oilyields has been achieved require largequantities of nitrogen fertilizer and water, plus significant fossilenergy inputs for the functioning system Harvesting the algaefrom tanks and separating the oil from the algae are difficult andenergy intensive processes

Algae generallyproduce a lot of polyunsaturates, which may present a stabilityproblem since higher levels of polyunsaturated fatty acids tendto decrease the stability of biodiesel. However polyunsaturates alsohave much lower melting points than monounsaturates or saturates;thus algal biodiesel should have much better cold weatherproperties than many other bio-oils

higher heating value of petroleum diesel is 42.7 MJ/kg

biodiesel derived from seed oils, such as rapeseed or soybeanproduces, 39.5 MJ/kg, while biomass derived from algae yields 41 MJ/kg Soybean can only produce about 450 l of oil perhectare. Canola can produce 1200 l per hectare, and palm can produce 6000 l. Now, compare that to algae which can yield 90,000 lper hectare Microalgalbiomass production step that requires light, carbon dioxide,water and inorganic nutrients. The latter are mainly nitrates, phosphates,iron and some trace elements.Optimal temperature- between 293 and 303 K three well-known methods to extract the oil from algae: (1) Expeller/Press, (2) solvent extraction with hexane (3)supercritical fluid extraction. A simple process is to use a press toextract a large percentage (7075%) of the oils out of algae. Algaloil can be extracted using chemicals- most popular chemical -hexane, which is relatively inexpensive.Supercritical fluid extraction is far more efficient than traditionalsolvent separation methods. Supercritical fluids are selective, thusproviding the high purity and product concentrations This canextract almost 100% of the oils all by itself. In the supercritical fluidcarbon dioxide (CO2) extraction, CO2 is liquefied under pressureand heated to the point that it has the properties of both a liquidand gas.

After oil extraction from algae, the remaining biomass fractioncan be used as a high protein feed for livestock. This givesfurther value to the process and reduces waste.

conventional solvent extraction technology, the recovery of green crude from microalgae which generally requires multiple solidliquid separation steps is still a challenging phase of the algal green crude production process. The processes involved include drying, cell disruption, solvent extraction and evaporation; which are highly energy intensive and environmental damaging

Challenges
broad commercialization of biofuel production from microalgae has been hampered due to the high costs involved .The production of biodiesel from microalgae worldwide is still at the pilot-scale. Several crucial research gaps remain that must be overcome in order to achieve a full-scale operation including the following: (1) a robust selection method and evaluation system for identifying algal strains that are suited to a large-scale culture system; (2) investigations into the mechanism and regulation ofCO2 fixation, lipid synthesis, and lipid accumulation in microalgae; (3) optimization and scale-up methods for the development of photobioreactors that are highly efficient and cost-effective; (4) process optimization and scale-up technology for culturing microalgae at a large-scale; (5) economical technologies for cell harvesting, oil extraction, and biofuel production; (6) exploitation of the components after oil extraction; (7) an economical and environmental evaluation for the process of biofuel production from microalgae; and (8) a technical route and research platform for a highly efficient and cost-effective commercialization of microalgal biofuel production