energy. To date, scarcely any of the unlimited resources offered by biomass have
been used. Once it becomes possible to produce energy with higher efficiency, this
biomass may well become the main energy production system of the 21st century.
Energy produced with marine biomass—including algae, microalgae, and marine
microorganisms—could be used as an energy resource for the future (Kim and
Manivasagan 2015).
Algae have long been valued as a food source in Korea: sea mustard, kelp, laver,
and many other forms of algae have become established parts of Korean culinary
culture. In addition to food, algae have a wide range of other uses, including
livestock feed, crop fertilizers, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, food additives, and
industrial materials. Recently, efficient use of the solar energy that falls on the
world’s oceans—which account for two-thirds of the Earth’s surface area—has
been discussed as a way of dealing with the predicted energy crisis from the rapid
increase in the world’s population and the exhaustion of fossil energy resources
such as petroleum and coal. Algae in particular have drawn great attention as a form
of marine biomass resource to achieve this (Lee et al. 1971).
As a peninsula surrounded on three sides by water, Korea possesses relatively
abundant algae resources. Because of its relatively small size and dearth of other
resources, it has focused its efforts on alternative energy development since the oil
shocks of the 1970s, though without the anticipated results.
While Korea uses roughly 15 different types of algae for food, there are known
to be over 200 types worldwide. Examples of food algae include laver, sea mustard,
kelp, and green laver. The 2010 seafood annual put the total of natural and farmed
production of algae at roughly 10,000 ton. Other examples with potential uses as
food or marine biomass resources include two species of blue-green algae, 35 of
green algae, 106 of brown algae, and 254 of red algae, for a total of 397 species. As
ways of boosting production to use these as marine biomass resources, growing and
farming technologies can be improved and superior varieties can be obtained
through seed technology development. It is against this backdrop that research on
algae biotechnology has advanced rapidly in the U.S., Europe, and Japan, with the
aim of promoting the currently somewhat underperforming field of applied phycology (Lee et al. 1992).
Because microalgae are single-celled organisms inhabiting the water, they do not
require fields or soil. With sufficient water and light, it is possible to use them to
produce and stockpile fuel (hydrocarbons) from their photosynthetic process of
carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Under stable immune conditions, energy production efficiency is reportedly around ten times higher than for land plants.
Another advantage in comparison with land plants is that microalgae can be harvested throughout the year and are well suited to automation due to their ease of
farming and harvesting. Today, microalgae are drawing global attention as a final
means of producing next-generation biofuels (Brennan and Owende 2010).
This chapter will examine the use of algae, microalgae, and marine microorganisms to produce bioenergy.
298
9 Marine Bioenergy Production
been used. Once it becomes possible to produce energy with higher efficiency, this
biomass may well become the main energy production system of the 21st century.
Energy produced with marine biomass—including algae, microalgae, and marine
microorganisms—could be used as an energy resource for the future (Kim and
Manivasagan 2015).
Algae have long been valued as a food source in Korea: sea mustard, kelp, laver,
and many other forms of algae have become established parts of Korean culinary
culture. In addition to food, algae have a wide range of other uses, including
livestock feed, crop fertilizers, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, food additives, and
industrial materials. Recently, efficient use of the solar energy that falls on the
world’s oceans—which account for two-thirds of the Earth’s surface area—has
been discussed as a way of dealing with the predicted energy crisis from the rapid
increase in the world’s population and the exhaustion of fossil energy resources
such as petroleum and coal. Algae in particular have drawn great attention as a form
of marine biomass resource to achieve this (Lee et al. 1971).
As a peninsula surrounded on three sides by water, Korea possesses relatively
abundant algae resources. Because of its relatively small size and dearth of other
resources, it has focused its efforts on alternative energy development since the oil
shocks of the 1970s, though without the anticipated results.
While Korea uses roughly 15 different types of algae for food, there are known
to be over 200 types worldwide. Examples of food algae include laver, sea mustard,
kelp, and green laver. The 2010 seafood annual put the total of natural and farmed
production of algae at roughly 10,000 ton. Other examples with potential uses as
food or marine biomass resources include two species of blue-green algae, 35 of
green algae, 106 of brown algae, and 254 of red algae, for a total of 397 species. As
ways of boosting production to use these as marine biomass resources, growing and
farming technologies can be improved and superior varieties can be obtained
through seed technology development. It is against this backdrop that research on
algae biotechnology has advanced rapidly in the U.S., Europe, and Japan, with the
aim of promoting the currently somewhat underperforming field of applied phycology (Lee et al. 1992).
Because microalgae are single-celled organisms inhabiting the water, they do not
require fields or soil. With sufficient water and light, it is possible to use them to
produce and stockpile fuel (hydrocarbons) from their photosynthetic process of
carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Under stable immune conditions, energy production efficiency is reportedly around ten times higher than for land plants.
Another advantage in comparison with land plants is that microalgae can be harvested throughout the year and are well suited to automation due to their ease of
farming and harvesting. Today, microalgae are drawing global attention as a final
means of producing next-generation biofuels (Brennan and Owende 2010).
This chapter will examine the use of algae, microalgae, and marine microorganisms to produce bioenergy.
298
9 Marine Bioenergy Production