ABSTRACT

In the current climate there are many reasons for considering alternative fuel sources and algae has been heralded as a potential “silver bullet”, however, after initial excitement it appears that the concept will not be commercially viable for at least 10 years. The technology to produce fuel from algae is currently available and vehicles have been powered by this feedstock in a number of cases [1]. As a commercially viable alternative to fossil fuels, however, the technologies are not yet there, the energy balance of producing the fuel is high, the economics cannot compete and the overall sustainability is in doubt. The concept of algal fuels is one that has been with us since the 1950s [2]. Funding for this area of research has fluctuated roughly in line with rising and falling crude oil prices. One of the main contributors in pioneering algal fuels was Professor W.J. Oswald who designed systems to cultivate algae on a large scale in the 1950s and 60s [3, 4]. He developed the concept to remove nutrients from wastewater and provide a useful biomass for food or fuel. At the time however the viability of the concept appeared unachievable and as oil prices dropped so did funding for such projects. The price of oil however is continuing

to rise with little sign of slowing down and it is now important to focus once again on improving the viability of fuel from algal feedstock. This paper will investigate where we have come since the first research on algal cultivation and energy recovery was initiated, what is currently hindering the commercial application of the concept and where we need to go from here. Continued research will allow us to recover the maximum potential from algal biomass which will provide an increasingly important resource for us in the future as predicted by Professor Oswald [5].