Microalgal Bioethanol Production for Sustainable Development: Current Status and Future Prospects

Around the world, countries are making efforts to tackle immediate environmental concerns such as global warming and its impact on climate change, as well as the challenge of fast-depleting fossil fuel resources. Moreover, these nations strive to achieve complete elimination of greenhouse gases, considering the context of the ongoing and escalating global energy crisis. As a result, researchers are investigating bio-based feedstocks as viable and environmentally friendly alternatives for bioenergy production. Microalgae are a type of photosynthetic microorganism that could be used as a renewable energy resource. They are capable of growing in harsh environmental circumstances and on terrain that is not suitable for agriculture. Additionally, they tend to flourish in both seawater and wastewater. Microalgae exhibit superior photosynthetic efficiency and biomass productivity in comparison to their terrestrial plant counterparts. Microalgae biomass, as well as the metabolites derived from it, can be transformed into a range of biofuels, including bioethanol, biodiesel, crude oil, pyrolytic bio-oil, biomethane, biohydrogen, and jet biofuel. Nevertheless, numerous obstacles still need to be overcome to attain faster and more widespread commercial utilization of microalgae as a renewable bioenergy source for bioethanol production. To enhance the sustainability of the environment and economic feasibility of microalgal bioethanol, it is crucial to choose suitable microalgal bio jets, create methods for concentrating biomass, and utilize wet microalgal biomass for bioethanol production. All these methods and steps need to be carried out meticulously. Additionally, adopting a coordinated biorefinery approach to produce value-added products would further contribute to the identified goals. This article aims to provide an overview of the present state of research on microalgal bioethanol and its prospects.