excellent fuel characteristics that have strong potential for use in biodiesel fuel. In
addition, they have a high caloric value of around 37 MJ/kg, which means that oil
stores can be combusted directly.
9.7 Chapter Summary and Conclusion
With the recent trend of consistently high oil prices and the Climate Change
Agreement taking effect, energy has emerged as a serious societal issue. As a
solution to this problem, research into developing and commercializing
bioenergy-related technology for the production of clean energy and
new/renewable energies using biomass is taking place actively around the world
(Sims et al. 2010).
Brazil has drawn attention as a model for checking greenhouse gas emissions
with its policies requiring the use of biofuels for 20–25% of automotive fuel. At
the same time, the use of corn, soybeans, sugar cane, and other crops for
bioenergy, has caused their prices to skyrocket, creating a global food shortage.
Numerous large-scale projects aimed at developing bioenergy with marine
biomass have been pursued recently in the U.S., Europe, and Japan.
As a peninsular country surrounded on three sides by water with vast areas of
ocean, Korea is in a position to take advantage of its situation by cultivating vast
amounts of large seaweeds that grow by absorbing solar energy and nutrients in
seawater. In addition to using these as energy resources, the country can also
recover useful substances from them, including fertilizers, feed, and chemicals.
Algae in particular grow biologically by fixing carbon dioxide from within
seawater, which means that they can be used to prevent the CO 2 contamination
that is currently becoming an issue, as well as several problems related to fossil
fuels and nuclear energy.
Currently, the costs of producing energy from marine biomass such as algae
and microalgae are too high for it to compete with petroleum and other fossil
fuels in production cost terms. The fact remains that production costs will be
significantly higher than those of petroleum even if the prices are rationalized
somewhat through energy production system improvements
Because South Korea has a low rate of energy self-sufficiency compared to
the oil-producing countries of the Middle East, North and South America, and
Europe, however, the possibility of a fossil fuel exhaustion leading to an energy
shortage is very likely to surface at some point. For the sake of its stability, it
will need to develop technologies for producing energy from marine biomass.
References
Andersen, R. A., & Kawachi, M. (2005). Microalgae isolation techniques. Algal Culturing
Techniques 83.
Beer, L. L., Boyd, E. S., Peters, J. W., & Posewitz, M. C. (2009). Engineering algae for
biohydrogen and biofuel production. Current Opinion in Biotechnology, 20(3), 264–271.
9.6 Developing Microalgae with High Oil Concentrations
341
addition, they have a high caloric value of around 37 MJ/kg, which means that oil
stores can be combusted directly.
9.7 Chapter Summary and Conclusion
With the recent trend of consistently high oil prices and the Climate Change
Agreement taking effect, energy has emerged as a serious societal issue. As a
solution to this problem, research into developing and commercializing
bioenergy-related technology for the production of clean energy and
new/renewable energies using biomass is taking place actively around the world
(Sims et al. 2010).
Brazil has drawn attention as a model for checking greenhouse gas emissions
with its policies requiring the use of biofuels for 20–25% of automotive fuel. At
the same time, the use of corn, soybeans, sugar cane, and other crops for
bioenergy, has caused their prices to skyrocket, creating a global food shortage.
Numerous large-scale projects aimed at developing bioenergy with marine
biomass have been pursued recently in the U.S., Europe, and Japan.
As a peninsular country surrounded on three sides by water with vast areas of
ocean, Korea is in a position to take advantage of its situation by cultivating vast
amounts of large seaweeds that grow by absorbing solar energy and nutrients in
seawater. In addition to using these as energy resources, the country can also
recover useful substances from them, including fertilizers, feed, and chemicals.
Algae in particular grow biologically by fixing carbon dioxide from within
seawater, which means that they can be used to prevent the CO 2 contamination
that is currently becoming an issue, as well as several problems related to fossil
fuels and nuclear energy.
Currently, the costs of producing energy from marine biomass such as algae
and microalgae are too high for it to compete with petroleum and other fossil
fuels in production cost terms. The fact remains that production costs will be
significantly higher than those of petroleum even if the prices are rationalized
somewhat through energy production system improvements
Because South Korea has a low rate of energy self-sufficiency compared to
the oil-producing countries of the Middle East, North and South America, and
Europe, however, the possibility of a fossil fuel exhaustion leading to an energy
shortage is very likely to surface at some point. For the sake of its stability, it
will need to develop technologies for producing energy from marine biomass.
References
Andersen, R. A., & Kawachi, M. (2005). Microalgae isolation techniques. Algal Culturing
Techniques 83.
Beer, L. L., Boyd, E. S., Peters, J. W., & Posewitz, M. C. (2009). Engineering algae for
biohydrogen and biofuel production. Current Opinion in Biotechnology, 20(3), 264–271.
9.6 Developing Microalgae with High Oil Concentrations
341