2^nd World Bioenergy Congress and Expo

Global warming due to increased carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere is a threat causing widespread concern. The C02 concentration in the atmosphere is reported to be risen by about 25% since industrial revolution. In the same time, the temperature of the northern hemisphere has also increased by 0.5 0C. A prudent response is to reduce emissions of green house gases while the science underlying global warming is resolved. Microalgae are considered to be excellent candidate for fuel production because of their advantages such as high biosynthetic efficiency, maximum biomass production ,fast growth rate and lack of soil requirement. During the last two decades, various CO2 mitigation strategies were investigated. Research suggests that, using microalgae for CO2 fixation is a sustainable strategy because microalgae have higher growth rates and CO2 fixation abilities than conventional terrestrial plants. Objectives of present studies were to develop: 1. Efficient biotechnology for the reduction of green house gases .All over the world research is focused on mitigation, sequestration of C02. 2. Technology to obtain biomass of microalgae on industrial scale can used as both solid and liquid fuel Chlorella species were isolated from various samples and studied for their optimal growth condition to produce biomass. Cultivations of these selected species were carried out under ability to grow under different conditions. Biomass of Chlorella species were subjected to recovery of oils as well as blended with coal to explore the calorific values. Microalgal culture was grown on large scale at the factory by purging exhaust fumes of boiler. The exhaust fumes from boiler contained 9 % C02,30.6 mg/NM3 S02 and 36.25 mg/ NM3 N0x.Waste water from the plant was used to grow the micro-algal culture and good growth was obtained. Strain C1 was cultivated on large scale of 30 m3 volume by purging exhaust fumes in waste water as open pond system. Use of waste water at the plant and drying algal biomass using sunlight instead of oven, made the process economical. Biomass generated could be used for the generation of energy. One way is direct incineration of biomass. To find out feasibility of this method calorific values of different strains were determined .Energy can also be obtained in the form of biofuel. This alternative was checked by performing, hydrothermal liquefaction of biomass at 3600C at high pressure. Chemical and physical properties of the bio oil were studied and compared with diesel and biodiesel. GCMS and FTIR analysis of the bio oil was carried out. The calorific values were quite comparable with coal as well as the yields were too quite good. The developed strains are with high potential for generation of energy as well as mitigating the GHG. The salient features of the studies will be presented during the presentation.