Chisti Yusuf
School of Engineering, Massey University, Private Bag 11 222, Palmerston North, New Zealand.
Trends Biotechnol. 2008 Mar;26(3):126-31. doi: 10.1016/j.tibtech.2007.12.002. Epub 2008 Jan 24.
Renewable biofuels are needed to displace petroleum-derived transport fuels, which contribute to global warming and are of limited availability. Biodiesel and bioethanol are the two potential renewable fuels that have attracted the most attention. As demonstrated here, biodiesel and bioethanol produced from agricultural crops using existing methods cannot sustainably replace fossil-based transport fuels, but there is an alternative. Biodiesel from microalgae seems to be the only renewable biofuel that has the potential to completely displace petroleum-derived transport fuels without adversely affecting supply of food and other crop products. Most productive oil crops, such as oil palm, do not come close to microalgae in being able to sustainably provide the necessary amounts of biodiesel. Similarly, bioethanol from sugarcane is no match for microalgal biodiesel.
需要可再生生物燃料来替代源自石油的运输燃料，因为这些燃料会导致全球变暖且供应有限。生物柴油和生物乙醇是最受关注的两种潜在可再生燃料。如下所示，使用现有方法从农作物生产的生物柴油和生物乙醇无法可持续地替代化石基运输燃料，但存在一种替代方案。微藻生物柴油似乎是唯一一种有潜力完全替代源自石油的运输燃料且不会对食品和其他农作物产品供应产生不利影响的可再生生物燃料。大多数高产油料作物，如油棕，在可持续提供所需数量生物柴油方面远不及微藻。同样，甘蔗生产的生物乙醇也无法与微藻生物柴油相媲美。
