Chapter 14
Recent Patents on Biofuels
from Microalgae
Ahmad Farhad Talebi, Meisam Tabatabaei and Mortaza Aghbashlo
Abstract To reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to prevent their devastative
impacts of human health and the environment, bioenergy carriers have been at
center of attention to supply global energy demand. Microalgae as solar
energy-driven factories could efficiently convert carbon dioxide to a variety of
hydrocarbons that can be used as biofuels. With the aim of realizing the current
status of algal biofuels, respective patents were surveyed in this chapter using
various databases, i.e., World Intellectual Property Organization, United States
Patent and Trademark Office, and European Patent Office database. Information
derived from the aforementioned databases was categorized into three: upstream,
mainstream, and downstream strategies. The upstream strategies included patents
on selection of algal strain and genetic engineering approaches while the mainstream strategies reviewed and discussed innovations pertaining to improving algal
cultivation systems, production media and nutrients supply, and CO 2 supply.
Finally, in the downstream strategies section, the inventions aimed at enhancing
harvesting and dewatering of microalgae cells and lipid extraction were presented.
Keywords Patent mining Á Innovation Á Microalgae Á Biofuels
Biodiesel
A. F. Talebi
Faculty of Microbial Biotechnology, Semnan University, Semnan, Iran
M. Tabatabaei (&)
Agricultural Biotechnology Research Institute of Iran, Karaj, Iran
e-mail: meisamtabatabaei@abrii.ac.ir
M. Tabatabaei
Biofuel Research Team, Karaj, Iran
M. Aghbashlo
College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Tehran, Karaj, Iran
e-mail: maghbashlo@ut.ac.i
© Springer International Publishing AG 2018
E. Jacob-Lopes et al. (eds.), Energy from Microalgae, Green Energy
and Technology, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69093-3_14
291
Recent Patents on Biofuels
from Microalgae
Ahmad Farhad Talebi, Meisam Tabatabaei and Mortaza Aghbashlo
Abstract To reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to prevent their devastative
impacts of human health and the environment, bioenergy carriers have been at
center of attention to supply global energy demand. Microalgae as solar
energy-driven factories could efficiently convert carbon dioxide to a variety of
hydrocarbons that can be used as biofuels. With the aim of realizing the current
status of algal biofuels, respective patents were surveyed in this chapter using
various databases, i.e., World Intellectual Property Organization, United States
Patent and Trademark Office, and European Patent Office database. Information
derived from the aforementioned databases was categorized into three: upstream,
mainstream, and downstream strategies. The upstream strategies included patents
on selection of algal strain and genetic engineering approaches while the mainstream strategies reviewed and discussed innovations pertaining to improving algal
cultivation systems, production media and nutrients supply, and CO 2 supply.
Finally, in the downstream strategies section, the inventions aimed at enhancing
harvesting and dewatering of microalgae cells and lipid extraction were presented.
Keywords Patent mining Á Innovation Á Microalgae Á Biofuels
Biodiesel
A. F. Talebi
Faculty of Microbial Biotechnology, Semnan University, Semnan, Iran
M. Tabatabaei (&)
Agricultural Biotechnology Research Institute of Iran, Karaj, Iran
e-mail: meisamtabatabaei@abrii.ac.ir
M. Tabatabaei
Biofuel Research Team, Karaj, Iran
M. Aghbashlo
College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Tehran, Karaj, Iran
e-mail: maghbashlo@ut.ac.i
© Springer International Publishing AG 2018
E. Jacob-Lopes et al. (eds.), Energy from Microalgae, Green Energy
and Technology, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69093-3_14
291