Resource requirements for the large-scale production of algal biofuels

Microalgae continue to be of great interest as a promising class of biofuel feedstock, with the potential for contributing to liquid transportation fuel supplipes while reducing GHG emissions and dependence on imported petroleum through the displacement of petroleum-based fuel and chemical product usage. However, to significantly contribute to fuel supplies will require that algal biofuels be capable of scaling up to large aggregated quantities of biomass and fuel feedstock production that necessarily impose huge demands for land, water, energy, supplemental CO2 and other key nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus. The resulting resource requirements will also impose constraints on the level of production scale-up that can be sustainably supported. This paper provides a high-level review of the current status and future prospects for these key resource demand and constraint challenges for the scale-up of autotrophic microalgal biofuel production. Emphasis is placed on the USA, although the issues are generally relevant globally. © 2013 Future Science Ltd.