Preface
Algae are simple plants mostly living in aquatic environments. The algal biomass is built
during photosynthesis, which transforms CO 2 to organic material using light energy. The
fact that algae grow in areas not competing with traditional agriculture has led to considerable interests during the past decades in developing algal biomass into a feedstock for biofuel
production.
Algae can be divided into microalgae and macroalgae, i.e., seaweed. Macroalgae have
been used for centuries as animal feed and fertilizer and grow typically along the coast on
hard substrates. Seaweed can also be cultivated, for example, on lines that have been seeded
with the desired species and moored at sea. This is already a relatively big industry for agar,
alginate and carrageenan production and for direct human consumption e.g. nori production. Macroalgae are relatively high in carbohydrates and low in lipids and in terms of biofuel
best suited for ethanol production.
Microalgae are unicellular, microscopic organisms that reproduce by cell division. They
are characterized by high metabolic rates compared to higher plants, due to their efficient
surface/volume ratios and lack of supporting structures. They may consequently have a very
high maximum growth rate (>1/day), and some species have beneficial cellular composition
for biofuel production. In particular the high lipid content in some species has gained
attention as potential feedstock for biodiesel production.
This book provides an overview of different ways to grow algae and the methods for
how to start algal cultivation, monitor algal growth, environmental impact of its cultivation,
and a range of methods for characterizing the biomass. The first chapters are intended for
those not familiar with algal cultivation and provide step-by-step instructions for how to
isolate and get the algae to grow. This is followed by chapters describing how to use
fluorescence techniques for estimating algal biomass and lipid content. Using fluorescence
as a proxy for biomass or lipids has the advantage that it can be done rapidly at a fraction of
the price of more traditional analytical methods, and therefore suitable for small-scale algal
cultivation. The last part of the book contains protocols for determination of, e.g., carbohydrates and lipids in algal biomass, which require an advanced laboratory to carry out.
Helsinki, Finland
Kristian Spilling
v
Algae are simple plants mostly living in aquatic environments. The algal biomass is built
during photosynthesis, which transforms CO 2 to organic material using light energy. The
fact that algae grow in areas not competing with traditional agriculture has led to considerable interests during the past decades in developing algal biomass into a feedstock for biofuel
production.
Algae can be divided into microalgae and macroalgae, i.e., seaweed. Macroalgae have
been used for centuries as animal feed and fertilizer and grow typically along the coast on
hard substrates. Seaweed can also be cultivated, for example, on lines that have been seeded
with the desired species and moored at sea. This is already a relatively big industry for agar,
alginate and carrageenan production and for direct human consumption e.g. nori production. Macroalgae are relatively high in carbohydrates and low in lipids and in terms of biofuel
best suited for ethanol production.
Microalgae are unicellular, microscopic organisms that reproduce by cell division. They
are characterized by high metabolic rates compared to higher plants, due to their efficient
surface/volume ratios and lack of supporting structures. They may consequently have a very
high maximum growth rate (>1/day), and some species have beneficial cellular composition
for biofuel production. In particular the high lipid content in some species has gained
attention as potential feedstock for biodiesel production.
This book provides an overview of different ways to grow algae and the methods for
how to start algal cultivation, monitor algal growth, environmental impact of its cultivation,
and a range of methods for characterizing the biomass. The first chapters are intended for
those not familiar with algal cultivation and provide step-by-step instructions for how to
isolate and get the algae to grow. This is followed by chapters describing how to use
fluorescence techniques for estimating algal biomass and lipid content. Using fluorescence
as a proxy for biomass or lipids has the advantage that it can be done rapidly at a fraction of
the price of more traditional analytical methods, and therefore suitable for small-scale algal
cultivation. The last part of the book contains protocols for determination of, e.g., carbohydrates and lipids in algal biomass, which require an advanced laboratory to carry out.
Helsinki, Finland
Kristian Spilling
v