Production of biofuels from microalgae

The production of biofuels from microalgae, especially biodiesel, has become a topic of great interest in recent years. However, many of the published papers do not consider the question of scale up and the feasibility of the various processes to be operated at the very large scale required if algal biofuels are to make a meaningful contribution to renewable fuels. All the steps in the process must also be very low cost. This paper discusses the unit processes required for algal biofuels production (i.e., growing the algae, harvesting, dewatering, extraction and conversion to biofuel) and their scalability. In many cases, especially in the lipid extraction step, little is known as yet as to the scalability and economic feasibility of the various processes proposed. We also highlight the key engineering and biological issues which must be resolved for the production of biofuels from microalgae to become an economic reality.     

Algal biofuel production and mitigation potential in India

Energy and energy services are the backbone of growth and development in India and is increasingly dependent upon the use of fossil based fuels that lead to greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions and related concerns. Algal biofuels are being evolved as carbon (C)-neutral alternative biofuels. Algae are photosynthetic microorganisms that convert sunlight, water and carbon dioxide (CO₂) to various sugars and lipids Tri-Acyl-Glycols (TAG) and show promise as an alternative, renewable and green fuel source for India. Compared to land based oilseed crops algae have potentially higher yields (5?C12 g/m²/d) and can use locations and water resources not suited for agriculture. Within India, there is little additional land area for algal cultivation and therefore needs to be carried out in places that are already used for agriculture, e.g. flooded paddy lands (20 Mha) with village level technologies and on saline wastelands (3 Mha). Cultivating algae under such conditions requires novel multi-tier, multi-cyclic approaches of sharing land area without causing threats to food and water security as well as demand for additional fertilizer resources by adopting multi-tier cropping (algae-paddy) in decentralized open pond systems. A large part of the algal biofuel production is possible in flooded paddy crop land before the crop reaches dense canopies, in wastewaters (40 billion litres per day), in salt affected lands and in nutrient/diversity impoverished shallow coastline fishery. Mitigation will be achieved through avoidance of GHG, C-capture options and substitution of fossil fuels. Estimates made in this paper suggest that nearly half of the current transportation petro-fuels could be produced at such locations without disruption of food security, water security or overall sustainability. This shift can also provide significant mitigation avenues. The major adaptation needs are related to socio-technical acceptance for reuse of various wastelands, wastewaters and waste-derived energy and by-products through policy and attitude change efforts.     

福建省九龙江江东库区沉积物微藻分布研究

沉积物既是营养盐的储存库,也是藻类的休眠场所.本研究以九龙江北溪江东水库为研究对象,于2011年4月、6月、9月、12月采集表层沉积物,对其营养盐含量、表层沉积物微藻分布及丰度进行分析.结果表明,沉积物大部分为粉砂质粘壤土,该区域沉积物总碳含量为9140.2~17760.4 mg·kg~(-1),总氮含量为950.0~1600.4 mg·kg~(-1),总磷含量为483.7~856.2 mg·kg~(-1).库区表层沉积物微藻细胞丰度范围在7.41×105~2.17×106cells·g~(-1)底泥(以干重计),主要为硅藻门和绿藻门,分别占微藻比例的45.52%~86.42%和5.96%~35.55%.沉积物微藻总丰度与上覆水体浮游植物总丰度及隐藻、裸藻丰度呈显著负相关,反映了沉积物微藻对上覆水体浮游植物的影响.沉积物中蓝藻、隐藻、甲藻孢囊丰度分别与水温呈显著负相关,分别与溶解氧呈显著正相关,因而冬季沉积物中有相对高的微藻丰度.沉积物微藻丰度与含水率、粉粒分别呈显著性正相关,反映了沉积物微藻沿着水流方向的积累.     

城市尾水氮代谢过程中芽孢杆菌对微藻作用机制

为了对城市尾水深度脱氮,提高地表水体质量,分别利用微藻（Z）、芽孢杆菌（Y）和微藻芽孢杆菌（ZY）对城市尾水进行脱氮处理与氮代谢菌群特征研究,结果表明,Z和ZY对城市尾水中氨氮的去除效果较好,2组降解率都达到了95%以上.Z对亚硝态氮去除效果最好,芽孢杆菌与微藻的共同作用在氮循环反应中亚硝态氮转化为硝态氮过程发挥出较为强大的稳定效果.芽孢杆菌可以有效去除硝态氮,并可以提高微藻对硝态氮的去除效率.ZY菌对城市尾水中硝态氮的去除效果最好,其降解率高达99%以上,几乎完全去除城市尾水中的硝态氮.在Z中样本数占比较高的菌群分别为Chroococcidiopsis_PCC_7203 （24.38%）、uncultured_bacterium-g_norank_f_A4b （23.65%）、Exiguobacteriu （7.09%）、Leptolyngbya_PCC-6306 （9.41%）和Bacillus （1.99%）.在ZY中样本数占比较高的菌群分别为Brevibacillus （22.94%）、Clostridium（8.78%）和Bacillus （4.88%）,Chroococcidiopsis_PCC_7203 样本数占比仅为7.84%,远远低于Z样本数所占比例.微藻可以很好去除系统中氨氮,芽孢杆菌与微藻联用具有较好的氨氮和硝态氮去除效果,芽孢杆菌具有抑制微藻过度增长作用,防止水体富营养化和黑臭发生.研究可为城市尾水深度处理,防止地表水体富营养化提供数据支持.     

International trade in biofuels: an introduction to the special issue

Currently, many countries are establishing goals for substituting biofuels for fossil fuels. These goals usually foresee 5–10% substitution while today's production, in most countries, is far below 2%. Evidently, many countries will seek to meet their ambitious biofuel targets through imports. This global trade in biofuels, which is to some extent already taking place, will have a major impact not only on other commodity markets like vegetable oils or animal fodder but also on the global land use change and on environmental impacts. This special issue focuses on the relation between trading, policy making and sustainability impacts of biofuels. It demonstrates the strong but complex link between biofuels production and the global food market, it unveils policy measures as the main drivers for production and use of biofuels and it analyzes various sustainability indicators and certification schemes for biofuels with respect to minimizing the adverse effects of biofuels while maximizing the benefits of the future use of biofuels.     

Algae: the world��s most important ��plants����an introduction

Early in the history of life, algae changed the planet??s atmosphere by producing oxygen, thus paving the way for the evolution of eukaryotic organisms. In an era in which the consumption of fossil fuels is a prime topic of concern, few people realize that the oil we currently exploit comes mostly from Cretaceous deposits of marine algae. Moving from ancient times to the present, the algae remain more important than most people realize. Today, the production of oxygen by algae (ca. 50% of all oxygen production) is another reason for saying ??our lives depend on algae.?? Those who love seafood should thank the algae because algae are the primary producers upon which aquatic ecosystems depend. Thanks should come from all who are vegetarians or omnivores, because all land plants derive from a freshwater class of green algae and all land-animals??including the cows that provide the steaks for meat-lovers??depend directly or indirectly on land plants for food and often for shelter as well. As we use up the oil deposits provided by the ancient algae, we are turning to the modern algae for help. Given the photosynthetic abilities of the algae, they are one of the major focuses for sustainable biofuel production and CO₂ consumption. Finally, the algae that give us the air we breathe, the food we eat, and the fuel for our cars (past and, perhaps, future), are also a source of active pharmaceutical compounds that can be used against drug-resistant bacterial strains, viruses (including Herpes Simplex and AIDS), and cancers. Roses are pretty and oak trees are impressive, but no other groups of ??plants?? have done so much, for so long, and, for so many as have the algae!     

A land use regression model incorporating data on industrial point source pollution

Advancing the understanding of the spatial aspects of air pollution in the city regional environment is an area where improved methods can be of great benefit to exposure assessment and policy support. We created land use regression (LUR) models for SO₂, NO₂ and PM₁₀ for Tianjin, China. Traffic volumes, road networks, land use data, population density, meteorological conditions, physical conditions and satellite-derived greenness, brightness and wetness were used for predicting SO₂, NO₂ and PM₁₀ concentrations. We incorporated data on industrial point sources to improve LUR model performance. In order to consider the impact of different sources, we calculated the PSIndex, LSIndex and area of different land use types (agricultural land, industrial land, commercial land, residential land, green space and water area) within different buffer radii (1 to 20 km). This method makes up for the lack of consideration of source impact based on the LUR model. Remote sensing-derived variables were significantly correlated with gaseous pollutant concentrations such as SO₂ and NO₂. R² values of the multiple linear regression equations for SO₂, NO₂ and PM₁₀ were 0.78, 0.89 and 0.84, respectively, and the RMSE values were 0.32, 0.18 and 0.21, respectively. Model predictions at validation monitoring sites went well with predictions generally within 15% of measured values. Compared to the relationship between dependent variables and simple variables (such as traffic variables or meteorological condition variables), the relationship between dependent variables and integrated variables was more consistent with a linear relationship. Such integration has a discernable influence on both the overall model prediction and health effects assessment on the spatial distribution of air pollution in the city region.     

水源水库藻类功能群落演替特征及水质评价

为了解水源水库的藻类功能群落时空演替特征及水质变化,以李家河水库为例, 2018年9月～2019年6月对藻类及水质因子开展连续监测,采用功能类群划分方法对水库藻类进行了识别与分类,探讨了藻类功能群落与水质间关系,并结合WQI指数法进行水质评价.结果表明,本研究共获得藻类56种,隶属于4门28属,可划分为15个功能群类,其中优势藻类功能群落分别为B、 D、 G、 J、 L_0、Mp、 P、 W_1和X_1;李家河水库藻类结构呈现明显的季节性特征,混合期藻密度明显低于分层期,其中混合期的主要功能藻种为小球藻和小环藻,分层期的主要功能藻种为舟形藻和针杆藻.冗余分析(RDA)表明,水温、混合层深度和RWCS指数是驱动藻类演替的主要因子;WQI分析结果显示李家河水体水质为"良好",混合期水质略好于分层期.本研究指出扬水曝气系统可改变藻类功能群落的演替特征,有效改善水源水库水质,保障了饮水供水安全.     

不同氮源和曝气方式对淡水藻类生长的影响

利用水族箱微宇宙研究了2种氮源水体中不同曝气条件对藻类生长的影响.试验使用铵态氮(NH₄⁺-N)和硝态氮(NO₃^--N)作为氮源,每种氮源水体分别设置不曝气、连续曝气、昼间曝气和夜间曝气4个处理.结果显示:试验初期以NH₄⁺-N为主要氮源的水体中藻类生长明显好于以NO₃^--N为主要氮源的水体.试验后期则以NO₃^--N为主要氮源的藻类生长情况更好.连续曝气对于2种氮源水体中藻类生长有着不同的影响;昼间曝气对2种氮源的藻类生长影响不大;而夜间曝气对藻类生长有明显的抑制作用.NH₄⁺-N含量较高的水体中蓝藻容易成为优势种,而NO₃^--N含量高的水体中则以绿藻为主.不同曝气条件下藻类优势种没有明显差别.     

No.0柴油水溶组分海洋浮游植物生态效应研究

应用现场和实验室培养方法,研究了No.0柴油水溶组分海洋浮游植物生态效应.提出了摄食条件下的海洋浮游植物生长模型和不同浓度No.0柴油水溶组分下浮游植物生长效应模型,分析了不同浓度No.0柴油水溶组分下浮游植物生长效应.结果表明,摄食条件下的海洋浮游植物生长模型较传统Logistic模型能更好地反映海洋生态系统,同时应用非线性拟合技术得到了不同浓度No.0柴油水溶组分下海洋浮游植物终止生物量（B_f）.根据海洋浮游植物生长效应模型进一步分析表明,在现场和实验室条件下,低浓度No.0柴油水溶组分对浮游植物生长有明显促进作用,生长促进率最大分别约为180%和120%,然而,在高浓度No.0柴油水溶组分条件下,石油烃对浮游植物生长效应不甚显著,甚至有明显抑制作用.     

藻液浓缩方法的改进与浓缩过程水体性质特征

为制作生物燃油提出了一种藻液浓缩方法。对湖泊水华过程生成的藻液进行浓缩研究,浓缩过程表明:在温度为21.5~22.9℃时,沉降装置上清液的理化性质为:溶解氧浓度为19.91~4.39 mg/L,p H为9.98~10.54,电导率为1 321~1 459μS/cm,氧化还原电位为-23.6~113.1 m V,浓缩倍数为26.58~28.95倍。藻液初始浓度为0.94 g/L,沉降后的高浓度藻液干重均值为25.47 g/L。结果显示:沉降系统能长时间保持稳定,适宜藻液长期浓缩。     

洱海西部雨季地表径流氮磷污染特征及受土地利用类型的影响

云南高原平坝区地表径流是湖泊氮、磷的主要来源之一.为研究高原平坝区雨季地表径流氮、磷污染特征及受土地利用类型的影响,调查了洱海西部平坝区雨季的径流氮、磷形态特征,并结合遥感影像空间分析与SPSS等统计分析,从汇水区尺度和缓冲区尺度上研究土地利用类型与地表径流水质的关系.结果表明:①研究区雨季地表径流氮、磷质量浓度较高,ρ（TP）为0.16~0.77 mg/L,且以DIP（溶解性无机磷）为主（63.01%）;ρ（TN）为1.75~14.86 mg/L,且以NO₃--N为主（78.15%）.②汇水区尺度上城镇用地对ρ（TP）影响突出.环湖农村居民点对ρ（NH₄+-N）影响突出,耕地中的高施肥种植区对ρ（TN）、ρ（NO₃--N）影响突出;③在缓冲区500、1 000和2 000 m尺度下,随缓冲区距离增加,土地利用类型对地表径流水质的影响减小.研究显示,城镇用地与高施肥种植区对洱海西部雨季地表径流氮、磷质量浓度影响最大,土地利用类型随缓冲区距离增加对水质的影响逐渐减小.      

太晤士河Datchet站藻类种群季节性变化的研究

自1985年10月至1986年6月定期从太晤士河Datchet监测站采集藻类标本和水样,各得样品32号。经鉴定有蓝藻门、隐藻门、金藻门、硅藻门、裸藻门和绿藻门的藻类共31个属。关于藻类的定量分析进行了藻类的计数、叶绿素含量的测定和水体中悬浮颗粒物的数量与体积的计算。在各种主要的生态因子中,藻类细胞总数与PH值、温度等成正相关;与各种化学因子,如CaCO₃、CO₂、PO₄-P、NO₃-N、SiO₂等成负相关。在藻类生长高峰期,PO₄-P 被消耗净,成为藻类生长的限制因素。此外,CO₂的含量也可能成为限制因素。      

Life cycle comparison of hydrothermal liquefaction and lipid extraction pathways to renewable diesel from algae

Algae biomass is an attractive biofuel feedstock when grown with high productivity on marginal land. Hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) produces more oil from algae than lipid extraction (LE) does because protein and carbohydrates are converted, in part, to oil. Since nitrogen in the algae biomass is incorporated into the HTL oil, and since lipid extracted algae for generating heat and electricity are not co-produced by HTL, there are questions regarding implications for emissions and energy use. We studied the HTL and LE pathways for renewable diesel (RD) production by modeling all essential operations from nutrient manufacturing through fuel use. Our objective was to identify the key relationships affecting HTL energy consumption and emissions. LE, with identical upstream growth model and consistent hydroprocessing model, served as reference. HTL used 1.8 fold less algae than did LE but required 5.2 times more ammonia when nitrogen incorporated in the HTL oil was treated as lost. HTL RD had life cycle emissions of 31,000 gCO₂ equivalent (gCO₂e) compared to 21,500 gCO₂e for LE based RD per million BTU of RD produced. Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions increased when yields exceeded 0.4 g HTL oil/g algae because insufficient carbon was left for biogas generation. Key variables in the analysis were the HTL oil yield, the hydrogen demand during upgrading, and the nitrogen content of the HTL oil. Future work requires better data for upgrading renewable oils to RD and requires consideration of nitrogen recycling during upgrading.     

微藻与水环境修复

目前,环境污染已威胁到我们人类的生活质量和身体健康。水污染作为环境污染的主要组成部分,已成为污染治理和环境修复的当务之急。文章综述了微藻作为一种生物修复工具修复富营养化水源和重金属污染水源的研究进展其国内外研究概况。具体阐述了微藻修复受污染水环境的机理,能除氮脱磷的微藻种类、环境因素对微藻除氮脱磷的影响,利用微藻除氮磷富营养化的研究现状,以及利用微藻作为生物武器消除重金属污染的优势、特点和现状。重点论述了螺旋藻和小球藻两种微藻修复水体污染的概况。     

铜绿微囊藻高温胁迫后的生长补偿效应

为探究藻类受高温胁迫后的恢复生长情况,以铜绿微囊藻(Microcystis aeruginosa)为材料,设置了40 ℃高温组及25 ℃对照组,分别处理3、6和12 d后转入25 ℃进行恢复培养30 d,测定生长过程中的细胞密度以及Chla(叶绿素a)、CAR(类胡萝卜素)、Pro(可溶性蛋白)、Sug(可溶性糖)和丙二醛的含量. 结果表明:40 ℃高温下铜绿微囊藻的生长受到显著抑制,胁迫至第12天时,细胞密度、ρ(Chla)和ρ(CAR)分别比对照组降低了81.08%、97.89%和90.31%. 解除胁迫后,40 ℃处理3 d组呈现一定的超补偿,细胞密度、ρ(Chla)和ρ(CAR)在恢复培养30 d的平均补偿指数分别为1.63、0.90和2.12;40 ℃处理6和12 d组呈现低补偿,恢复培养至第30天时,ρ(Pro)分别比对照组降低了14.86%和48.75%,ρ(Sug)分别比对照组降低了18.77%和53.73%. 胁迫时间越长,丙二醛含量越高,长时间(12 d)的高温胁迫会对细胞造成永久伤害. 采用Logistic方程拟合生长曲线,40 ℃处理6 d组在恢复培养24 d后出现明显的超补偿,细胞密度增大,预计39 d后超过40 ℃处理3 d组. 高温诱发超补偿生长与自然界中藻类暴发的过程具有密切关系,这种内源性因素及藻体生理特征的变化可为湖泊水华发生的理论研究提供依据.      

基于地理加权回归模型评估土地利用对地表水质的影响

针对传统线性回归模型大多忽视空间数据局部变化特征这一缺陷,引入地理加权回归模型(GWR)用于评估土地利用对地表水质的影响,分析了不同子流域内两者关系出现空间变化的规律并阐释了原因.同时,对比了GWR模型与普通最小二乘模型(OLS)的校正R2、Akaike信息准则(AICc)及残差的空间自相关指数(Moran's I),验证了GWR模型在预测精度和处理空间自相关过程中是否优于OLS模型.结果表明,同一土地利用类型对水质的影响随空间位置的改变而发生方向或大小的变化.以温瑞塘河流域总氮(TN)与农用地的关系为例,从GWR模型局部回归系数的方向分析,两者关系表现为农村正、城区负的现象,从大小分析,旧城区TN与农用地回归系数的绝对值高于其它区域;在溶解氧(DO)与人口密度所构建的GWR模型中,两者关系在整个研究区域内均表现为负值,与OLS结果吻合,从回归系数的大小分析,人口密度对DO的作用在郊区及农村更为显著.针对此类关系出现空间变化的原因分析表明,相邻子流域土地利用百分比的改变及水体主要污染源的不同,是导致土地利用对水质作用发生变化的根本因素.最后,对比所构建的80个GWR与OLS模型校正R2、AICc指标,验证了GWR作为一种局部统计模型,其预测精度优于OLS等传统全局模型且更能反映实际空间特征.     

胶网藻对水体中恩诺沙星的毒性响应及去除作用

恩诺沙星是医药及水产养殖业广泛使用的喹诺酮类抗生素,是我国地表水中残留量较多的抗生素种类之一;然而有关该抗生素对水体中浮游植物毒理作用以及后者对其去除作用的研究还鲜见报道.本研究以绿藻门的胶网藻(Dictyosphaerium sp.)为对象,通过12 d室内培养实验,分析在不同浓度(0、 5、 25、 50和100 mg·L~(-1))恩诺沙星暴露的条件下,胶网藻的生长、光合作用活力和胞外多糖的响应变化及其对不同浓度恩诺沙星的去除效率.结果表明,各处理组中胶网藻的生物量和光合色素含量均随培养时间的增加而升高,但与对照组相比,恩诺沙星对胶网藻的生长和光合色素积累均产生显著抑制作用(P0.01).通过拟合分析,计算出恩诺沙星对胶网藻96 h半数致死浓度(LC_(50))为(241.29±7.33) mg·L~(-1),表明胶网藻能够适应高浓度的恩诺沙星胁迫.同时发现,当恩诺沙星浓度5 mg·L~(-1)时,能够促进胶网藻的最大光合速率(F_v/F_m),但浓度5 mg·L~(-1)时则对胶网藻具有抑制作用(P0.01);实际光合速率(Yeild)和最大电子传递速率(ETR_(max))在12 d内呈现先降后升的变化趋势,胶网藻在6 d后可逐渐适应胁迫环境而恢复一定的光合活力.此外,恩诺沙星可刺激胶网藻释放胞外多糖,水溶性多糖(RPS)和胞外胶鞘多糖(CPS)含量均随恩诺沙星浓度升高而增加.实验结束时, 4个无藻对照组(5、 25、 50和100 mg·L~(-1))中恩诺沙星的去除率分别为7.27%、 5.56%、 5.30%和4.88%,而添加胶网藻的处理组其去除率分别为对照组的3.21、 3.01、 2.69和2.83倍,表明胶网藻对于恩诺沙星的去除具有显著的促进作用(P0.01).本研究结果为理解喹诺酮类抗生素对水体初级生产者的生态毒性提供了新资料,同时也为水体抗生素残留的生态去除和淡水微藻的生物资源化利用提供了新的思路.     

Agricultural crop-based biofuels – resource efficiency and environmental performance including direct land use changes

This paper analyses biofuels from agricultural crops in northern Europe regarding area and energy efficiency, greenhouse gases and eutrophication. The overall findings are that direct land use changes have a significant impact on GHG balances and eutrophication for all biofuels, the choice of calculation methods when by-products are included affecting the performance of food crop-based biofuels considerably, and the technical design of production systems may in specific cases be of major importance. The presented results are essential knowledge for the development of certification systems. Indirect land use changes are recognised but not included due to current scientific and methodological deficiencies.     

Future bioenergy trade in the EU: modelling trading options from a cost-effectiveness perspective

The purpose of this paper is to analyse under what conditions, with respect to CO₂ emission-reduction and biofuels-for-transport targets, the trading in the EU of CO₂ credits and solid and/or liquid biofuels is cost-effective from the perspective of an optimisation energy systems model. We use the PEEP model covering the EU27 (except Bulgaria, Malta, and Cyprus) to generate insights about the cost-effectiveness of different options under different policy scenarios. Trade in CO₂ credits is a cost-effective option, in all relevant policy scenarios. Trade in some biofuels (mainly from central and eastern European countries to the EU15) is cost-effective in all assessed scenarios. In the case of CO₂ targets (whether national or at the EU level) there is trade in solid biofuels. When biofuels-for-transport targets are also implemented, trading both solid and liquid biofuels is cost-effective.