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Ecological, Economical and Life Cycle Assessment of Algae and Its Biofuel

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Algal Biofuels

Abstract

In this communication the diverse potential of various algal species is analysed in terms of ecological, economical and bioenergy production. As the available methods of pollution remediation and fertilizers are high in cost and are not friendly for the environment. The biochemical constituents of algae like protein, carbohydrates and lipids have been used in different industries of food, cosmetics and medicines. Algal protein is high in demands over the world due to its high nutrient value and organically produced nature. The algal biomass contains up to 50% oil contents in the form of triglycerides and can be easily converted to alkyl esters which may become good substitutes for petrochemical diesel. Due to the first organisms of food chain in aquatic ecosystems, algae have great ecological importance. Algae have also been found suitable for the remediation of contaminants (heavy metals, pesticides, dyes, etc.) from the polluted water bodies and this method is popularized as phycoremediation. The lipid extracted from algae has enormous potential to produce biodiesel which may become an important alternative to fossil fuels.

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Acknowledgements

Dr. Kuldeep Bauddh is thankful to UGC for a UGC Start-up-grant.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Environmental Sciences, Central University of Jharkhand, Ranchi, 835205, India

    Virendra Kumar & Kuldeep Bauddh

  2. Department of Environmental Studies, University of Delhi, Delhi, 110007, India

    Ravindra Prasad Karela

  3. Department of Biology and Renewable Energy, Oral Roberts University, 7777 South Lewis, Avenue, Tulsa, OK, 74171, USA

    John Korstad

  4. Department of Environmental Science, Central University of Rajasthan, Kishangarh, 305817, India

    Sanjeev Kumar

  5. NHPC Limited, Faridabad, 121003, Haryana, India

    Rahul Srivastava

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  1. Virendra Kumar
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  2. Ravindra Prasad Karela
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  3. John Korstad
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  4. Sanjeev Kumar
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  5. Rahul Srivastava
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  6. Kuldeep Bauddh
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Correspondence to Kuldeep Bauddh .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Environmental Engineering, Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi, Delhi, India

    Sanjay Kumar Gupta

  2. Applied Microbiology Laboratory, Centre for Rural Development and Technology, Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi, Delhi, India

    Anushree Malik

  3. Institute for Water and Wastewater Technology, Durban University of Technology, Durban, South Africa

    Faizal Bux

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Kumar, V., Karela, R.P., Korstad, J., Kumar, S., Srivastava, R., Bauddh, K. (2017). Ecological, Economical and Life Cycle Assessment of Algae and Its Biofuel. In: Gupta, S., Malik, A., Bux, F. (eds) Algal Biofuels. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-51010-1_21

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