Bioconversion of Industrial Wastes
into Biodiesel Feedstocks
Rosangela Rodrigues Dias, Mariana Manzoni Maroneze,
Álisson Santos de Oliveira, Patrícia Acosta Caetano,
Leila Queiroz Zepka, and Eduardo Jacob-Lopes
Abstract
To date, it has not been possible to establish the economic
viability of the production of microalgae biodiesel.
Relevant issues associated with commercial-scale
microalgae cultivation need to be addressed to make this
biofuel a reality. The high demand for water and nutrients
represents a significant challenge. The use of wastewater
for bioenergy production is an economically and environmentally promising alternative. In this context, the
main objective of this chapter is to present a landscape of
the potential use of microalgae for bioconversion of
industrial wastes into biodiesel feedstocks. Initially, the
microalgae will be presented as an auspicious feedstock
for biodiesel. The use of industrial waste as a nutrients
font for microalgae culture and biodiesel production will
be discussed. The challenges associated with the bioconversion of industrial waste into biodiesel will be debated
in its main aspects. In the end, the biodiesel characteristics
and the economic issues of the commercialization of
microalgae biodiesel from waste will be addressed.
Keywords
Microalgae Á Wastewater Á Lipids Á Biofuel
1 Introduction
Based on the current biotechnological maturity, unfortunately, it has not yet been possible to establish the economic
viability of microalgae biofuels. The technological routes are
immature, and the production cost makes it difficult to use
microalgae as a producer of bioenergy (Deprá et al. 2018).
However, although it has a high production cost, there is a
global effort to make microalgae technology commercially
attractive. Today, large- and medium-sized companies are
investing in research and development to produce microalgae biofuels on a commercial scale. This attempt is supported by the initiative of many companies, such as Euglena,
BP plc, and ExxonMobil (Salama et al. 2017).
A viable solution to reduce production costs is cultivation
using wastewater. Scientists worldwide have demonstrated
the important role of microalgae in bioremediation and
nutrient recovery from wastewater (Mondal et al. 2019;
Queiroz et al. 2013). The wastewater is a readily available
source of water and nutrients for biomass production, which
can be utilized to produce biodiesel (Paniagua-Michel 2015;
Francisco et al. 2015). The demand for biodiesel is
increasing worldwide not only by the urgency to minimize
dependence on fossil fuels but also to maintain the sustainability of the ecosystem (Jayakumar et al. 2017).
Until the moment, among renewable bioenergy sources,
the microalgae have shown the most promise for biodiesel
production. Concomitant, an increasing number of studies
have demonstrated the potential for bioconversion of
municipal, agricultural, industrial, and agro-industrial waste
into bioenergy. The strategy can considerably improve the
sustainability of the production chain. It is predicted that,
with the advance of research, the production expenses will
decrease considerably, leading to the commercial success of
the microalgae biodiesel companies.
Today, great emphasis has been given to the massive
generation of industrial and agro-industrial waste, such as
flue gases and wastewater. The wastewater from these
sources has an expressive content of organic matter and is
being evaluated for microalgae cultivation and biodiesel
production (Udaiyappan et al. 2017). Given the potential use
of these wastes for the economic viability of microalgae
R. R. Dias Á M. M. Maroneze Á Á.S. de Oliveira Á P. A. Caetano Á
L. Q. Zepka Á E. Jacob-Lopes (&)
Department of Food Science and Technology, Federal University
of Santa Maria (UFSM), Roraima Avenue 1000, 97105-900 Santa
Maria, RS, Brazil
e-mail: ejacoblopes@gmail.com
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
Inamuddin and A. Khan (eds.), Sustainable Bioconversion of Waste to Value Added Products, Advances in Science,
Technology & Innovation, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-61837-7_7
109
into Biodiesel Feedstocks
Rosangela Rodrigues Dias, Mariana Manzoni Maroneze,
Álisson Santos de Oliveira, Patrícia Acosta Caetano,
Leila Queiroz Zepka, and Eduardo Jacob-Lopes
Abstract
To date, it has not been possible to establish the economic
viability of the production of microalgae biodiesel.
Relevant issues associated with commercial-scale
microalgae cultivation need to be addressed to make this
biofuel a reality. The high demand for water and nutrients
represents a significant challenge. The use of wastewater
for bioenergy production is an economically and environmentally promising alternative. In this context, the
main objective of this chapter is to present a landscape of
the potential use of microalgae for bioconversion of
industrial wastes into biodiesel feedstocks. Initially, the
microalgae will be presented as an auspicious feedstock
for biodiesel. The use of industrial waste as a nutrients
font for microalgae culture and biodiesel production will
be discussed. The challenges associated with the bioconversion of industrial waste into biodiesel will be debated
in its main aspects. In the end, the biodiesel characteristics
and the economic issues of the commercialization of
microalgae biodiesel from waste will be addressed.
Keywords
Microalgae Á Wastewater Á Lipids Á Biofuel
1 Introduction
Based on the current biotechnological maturity, unfortunately, it has not yet been possible to establish the economic
viability of microalgae biofuels. The technological routes are
immature, and the production cost makes it difficult to use
microalgae as a producer of bioenergy (Deprá et al. 2018).
However, although it has a high production cost, there is a
global effort to make microalgae technology commercially
attractive. Today, large- and medium-sized companies are
investing in research and development to produce microalgae biofuels on a commercial scale. This attempt is supported by the initiative of many companies, such as Euglena,
BP plc, and ExxonMobil (Salama et al. 2017).
A viable solution to reduce production costs is cultivation
using wastewater. Scientists worldwide have demonstrated
the important role of microalgae in bioremediation and
nutrient recovery from wastewater (Mondal et al. 2019;
Queiroz et al. 2013). The wastewater is a readily available
source of water and nutrients for biomass production, which
can be utilized to produce biodiesel (Paniagua-Michel 2015;
Francisco et al. 2015). The demand for biodiesel is
increasing worldwide not only by the urgency to minimize
dependence on fossil fuels but also to maintain the sustainability of the ecosystem (Jayakumar et al. 2017).
Until the moment, among renewable bioenergy sources,
the microalgae have shown the most promise for biodiesel
production. Concomitant, an increasing number of studies
have demonstrated the potential for bioconversion of
municipal, agricultural, industrial, and agro-industrial waste
into bioenergy. The strategy can considerably improve the
sustainability of the production chain. It is predicted that,
with the advance of research, the production expenses will
decrease considerably, leading to the commercial success of
the microalgae biodiesel companies.
Today, great emphasis has been given to the massive
generation of industrial and agro-industrial waste, such as
flue gases and wastewater. The wastewater from these
sources has an expressive content of organic matter and is
being evaluated for microalgae cultivation and biodiesel
production (Udaiyappan et al. 2017). Given the potential use
of these wastes for the economic viability of microalgae
R. R. Dias Á M. M. Maroneze Á Á.S. de Oliveira Á P. A. Caetano Á
L. Q. Zepka Á E. Jacob-Lopes (&)
Department of Food Science and Technology, Federal University
of Santa Maria (UFSM), Roraima Avenue 1000, 97105-900 Santa
Maria, RS, Brazil
e-mail: ejacoblopes@gmail.com
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
Inamuddin and A. Khan (eds.), Sustainable Bioconversion of Waste to Value Added Products, Advances in Science,
Technology & Innovation, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-61837-7_7
109