Sustainable biofuels from algae

There is currently great interest in microalgae as sources of renewable energy and biofuels. Many algae species have a high lipid content and can be grown on non-arable land using alternate water sources such as seawater. This paper discusses in detail the issue of sustainability of commercial-scale microalgae production of biofuels with particular focus on land, water, nutrients (N and P) and CO<Subscript>2</Subscript> requirements and highlights some of the key issues in the very large scale culture of microalgae which is required for biofuels. The use of genetically modified algae is also considered. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2013