ABSTRACT
The world total biodiesel production was estimated to be around 1.8 billion litres in 2003. Although there was no increase in biodiesel production between 1996 and 1998, a sharp increase in biodiesel production was observed in the past several years. The formation of short carbon chain fatty acids is similar in the cells of advanced plants, animals, fungi, bacteria and algae. So it is vital to choose proper microalgae species as materials of biodiesel production. Heterotrophic cultivation of microalgae offers several advantages over phototrophic cultivation including elimination of the light requirement, good control of the cultivation process, and low cost of harvesting the biomass because of the higher cell density obtained in heterotrophic culture of microalgae. A new method for biodiesel production from microalgal oils has been developed by the application of genetic engineering recently.
