Finite availability of conventional fossil carbonaceous fuels coupled with increasing pollution due to their overexploitation has necessitated the quest for renewable fuels. Consequently, biomass-derived fuels are gaining importance due to their economic viability and environment-friendly nature. Among various liquid biofuels, biobutanol is being considered as a suitable and sustainable alternative to gasoline. This paper reviews the present state of the preprocessing of the feedstock, biobutanol production through fermentation and separation processes. Low butanol yield and its toxicity are the major bottlenecks. The use of metabolic engineering and integrated fermentation and product recovery techniques has the potential to overcome these challenges. The application of different nanocatalysts to overcome the existing challenges in the biobutanol field is gaining much interest. For the sustainable production of biobutanol, algae, a third-generation feedstock has also been evaluated.
Utilization of cyanobacteria for remediation of pollutants and thereby large production of microalgae for sustainable biofuel production is a practicable option. In the present study, a cyanobacterial consortium of Oscillatoria subbrevis and Gloeocapsa atrata, collected from East Kolkata Wetland, a "Wetland of International Importance", has been used for removal of Cr(VI) from simulated wastewater and the effect of Cr(VI) on biomass production was investigated. The Monod model has been used to depict growth kinetics of the cyanobacterial consortium in pure media. Maximum specific growth rate and saturation constant have been found to be 0.1562 day −1 and 0.024 g/L, respectively. The kinetic study on Cr(VI) removal shows that biomass and lipid production are more when the cyanobacterial consortium have been cultured in wastewater containing Cr(VI) than in pure media. The growth of the cyanobacterial consortium in relation to Cr(VI) removal as well as lipid production has been optimized using response surface methodology. Optimum metal removal has been achieved when initial Cr(VI) concentration, pH, inoculum size, and time are 11.08 ppm, 9.0, 0.39 g, and 9 days, respectively.
Growths of Lyngbya limnetica and Oscillatoria obscura were investigated at varying pH, light intensity, temperature, and trace element concentration with a view to optimize these parameters for obtaining the maximum carbohydrate content. The maximum growth for both strains was obtained at pH 9.0 and temperature 20 ± 3 °C using a light intensity of 68.0 μmol m s with continuous shaking. Growth under the nitrogen starvation condition affected the carbohydrate content more compared to the phosphorus starvation, and maximum concentrations were found as 0.660 and 0.621 g/g of dry biomass for L. limnetica and O. obscura, respectively. Under the optimized nitrogen-rich conditions, the specific growth rates for the two strains were found to be 0.187 and 0.215 day, respectively. The two-stage growth studies under nitrogen-rich (stage I) followed by nitrogen starvation (stage II) conditions were performed, and maximum biomass and carbohydrate productivity were found as 0.088 and 0.423 g L day for L. limnetica. This is the first ever attempt to evaluate and optimize various parameters affecting the growth of cyanobacterial biomass of L. limnetica and O. obscura as well as their carbohydrate contents.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.