Carbon dioxide fixation and phycoremediation by algae-based technologies for biofuels and biomaterials

Global warming has become an increasingly serious problem for human health in the recent decades. Carbon dioxide (CO₂), a typical greenhouse gas, is emitted by many industries and in 2015 CO₂ concentrations in the atmosphere was at 400ppm. Several technologies for carbon capture and storage have been devised to reduce CO₂ at the source. Utilizing CO₂ biosequestration by algae-based technologies is an attractive option for carbon capture and storage. Biomass of microalgae has several distinctions that reduce our reliance on fossil and plant-based fuels. It yields pigment and lipids used in many industries, for example, biofuel, biorefinery, and biomaterial production. This chapter describes CO₂ sequestration using several algae-based technologies and the products produced from CO₂ sequestration. First, sources of CO₂ emissions are summarized. Then details of CO₂ biosequestration are reviewed by discussing the effects of physicochemical factors and the design of photobioreactors for the efficacy of CO₂ biosequestration. Furthermore, the applications of algae biomass for bioenergy, biorefinery, and biomaterial production are discussed and analyzed.