Nannochloropsis sp.

Algae-based Biofuels as Substitute for Environmentally

Friendly Fuel Fource to Cover Nations Demands of Energy

The consumption and demand of energy in the world is exploding, but proven fuel reserves
especially fossil fuel which usually consumed daily has been declined ever since. As petroleum
fuel costs rise and supplies dwindle, alternatives fuels will become more attractive to both
investors and consumer. World is forced to search for alternatives concerning its energy supply
because the upcoming shortage of fossil fuels. Today, huge efforts are made to maximize the
productivity of biofuel and identify new species of organism to fulfill the future demand of
energy.
BP's "Statistical Review of World Energy" published in mid 2013 says that the world has in
reserves 1669 billion barrels of crude oil, and by 2065 there will be no reserves of crude oil. This
fact leads to a quest for an alternative source of energy. One of the alternative way to substitute
fossil fuel energy is biofuel. According to Biofuels Association of Australia, Biofuels are liquid
fuels which have been derived from other materials such as waste plant and animal matter. There
are two main types of biofuels bioethanol, to substitute gasoline and biodiesel, to substitute
diesel or solar. The first generation biodiesel markets in Europe and the US have reached
impressive biodiesel production capacity levels, but remain constrained by feedstock availability.
In 2014, Indonesian biodiesel producers may export 2.2 million kilolitres of biodiesel, up from
1.833 million kilolitres last year, and the production capacity is likely to hit 8.8 million kilolitres
in 2015, to support the demands from its biggest biodiesel export customer, the European Union.
Biofuel can be made from various resource, either land-based or water-based. The potential
resource from water-based to make biofuel is very profitable since the start of the Aquatic
Species Program (ASP). One of attractive water-based resource is algae, algae usage for biofuel
production has become an important issue. Beside that, the technology for making biofuel for
algae is currently continous developing. The utilization of algae is seen as one of these possible
alternatives. Algae is a feedstock that have certain advantages when compared with land-based
feedstock. Under favorable conditions, the growth rate of algae is estimated to be 510-times
higher compared with land-based crops, implying a higher production rate of theoretically
convertible biomass. Additionally, certain species may have a high fraction of lipids or
carbohydrates of up to 7080 wt%.
The algae that are used in biodiesel production are usually aquatic unicellular green algae, which
has a photosynthetic eukaryote characterized by high growth rates and high population densities.
Additionally, green algae can have huge lipid content, frequently over 50%. This high yield, high
density biomass is ideal for intensive agriculture and may be an excellent source for biodiesel
production. Quality of the alga to produced biofuel depending on its composition differs in terms
of lipid, starch and protein content.
Nannochloropsis sp., is one of the superior candidate for making biofuel. It is unicellular, non-
motile, of about 2-5m cell size, golden green algae belonging to the class Eustigmatophyceae.
This microalgae is one of the most interesting phytoplankton in the field of marine biotechnology
because it represents a valuable source of various natural products which have several
applications. Due to their high oil content, Nannochloropsis sp. was used as raw materials for
biofuel production. Oil content of Nannochloropsis sp. based on dry weight is up to 68%.
World usage of algae to make biofuel is quite promising, seen from the fact that current
technology of algae processing to biofuel could produce the fuel with price as low as $1.27 per
gallon, compared to gasoline skyrocketing to more than $4 a gallon in 2008, this algae biofuel is
tremendously promising.
The highly efficient technology to make biofuel from algae, is processed through hydrothermal
liquefaction (HTL) of algae in a continous-flow reactor. This process would results on high
levels of carbon conversion to gravity sp.earable biocrude product at relatively low temperature
(350
o
C), pressurized at 20 MPa. High conversions would be obtained even with high slurry feed
concentrations of up to 35% wt of dry solids. The product after hyrotreating with temperature
105-401
o
C would have the range of carbon %wt dry up to 84-85%, and hydrogen 13-15%. This
Viewed from the side effectiveness fuel combustion, the usage of biofuel which has a higher
oxygen content (usually 10 to 12 percent) than petroleum diesel. This biofuel source is urgently
in need to be developed, especially in Indonesia, which already has a great start on producing
biofuels as alternative source of energy.
Keyword: algae, biofuels, biodiesels, hydrothermal liquefaction, Nannochloropsis sp.,