a Third Institute of Oceanography, State Oceanic Administration , Xiamen , People's Republic of China.
b Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, ChELSI Institute, Advanced Biomanufacturing Centre , The University of Sheffield , Sheffield , UK.
Crit Rev Biotechnol. 2018 May;38(3):351-368. doi: 10.1080/07388551.2017.1355774. Epub 2017 Aug 1.
Microalgae are a potential candidate for biofuel production and environmental treatment because of their specific characteristics (e.g. fast growth, carbon neutral, and rich lipid accumulations). However, several primary bottlenecks still exist in current technologies, including low biomass conversion efficiency, bio-invasion from the external environment, limited or costly nutrient sources, and high energy and capital input for harvest, and stalling its industrial progression. Coupling biofuel production with environmental treatment renders microalgae a more feasible feedstock. This review focuses on microalgae biotechnologies for both bioenergy generation and environmental treatment (e.g. CO sequestration and wastewater reclamation). Different intelligent technologies have been developed, especially during the last decade, to eliminate the bottlenecks, including mixotrophic/heterotrophic cultivation, immobilization, and co-cultivation. It has been realized that any single purpose for the cultivation of microalgae is not an economically feasible option. Combinations of applications in biorefineries are gradually reckoned to be necessary as it provides more economically feasible and environmentally sustainable operations. This presents microalgae as a special niche occupier linking the fields of energy and environmental sciences and technologies. The integrated application of microalgae is also proven by most of the life-cycle analysis studies. This study summarizes the latest development of primary microalgal biotechnologies in the two areas that will bring researchers a comprehensive view towards industrialization with an economic perspective.
微藻因其独特的特性（如生长速度快、碳中性、脂质积累丰富），成为生物燃料生产和环境治理的潜在候选物。然而，目前的技术仍存在几个主要瓶颈，包括生物质转化效率低、外环境的生物入侵、有限或昂贵的营养源、以及收获所需的高能源和资本投入，从而阻碍了其产业化进程。将生物燃料生产与环境治理相结合，使微藻成为更可行的原料。本综述重点介绍了微藻生物技术在生物能源生产和环境治理方面的应用（如 CO2 捕集和废水回收）。不同的智能技术已经得到了发展，特别是在过去十年中，以消除瓶颈，包括混合营养/异养培养、固定化和共培养。已经意识到，任何单一目的的微藻培养都不是经济可行的选择。在生物炼制厂中的应用组合逐渐被认为是必要的，因为它提供了更经济可行和环境可持续的操作。这使得微藻作为一个特殊的利基占据者，将能源和环境科学与技术领域联系起来。微藻的综合应用也被大多数生命周期分析研究证明。本研究总结了这两个领域中主要微藻生物技术的最新发展，为研究人员提供了一个从经济角度看待工业化的全面视角。
