Algal Bioenergy and Carbon Sequestration

The human population is facing a global challenge to provide sufficient energy and to simultaneously mitigate the adverse consequences of climate change caused by gradually increasing carbon emission levels. Alternate resources of energy, including bioresources, are being explored to tackle the above-mentioned challenges.
Algae are one of the most promising bioresources that have received considerable attention following recognition of their potential to produce biofuel. In addition to biofuel production, algae are considered an excellent sink of CO₂ due to their efficiency in sequestering the compound through their metabolic processes. Taking these points into consideration, attempts are being made to develop algal biofuel production systems as a means to provide clean energy and to sequester excessive CO₂ from the environment.

A considerable amount of R&D is being conducted in this area worldwide by governmental and private enterprises, from the academic-fundamental level to the industrial-applied level. Production of biofuels from algae is technically feasible, but economically not viable due to excessive input costs, especially in downstream processing. Apart from costs, yielding high algal biomass, efficient algal species/strain for biofuel production, optimization of harvesting, extraction and processing of biofuel production are other challenges to be addressed. In order to efficiently utilize the potential of algae for sustainable production of bioenergy and carbon sequestration, integration of expertise and knowledge of Biology and Engineering is required for future research at both the laboratory and industrial scales.

Based on these points, the present Research Topic on Algal Bioenergy and Carbon Sequestration is aiming to provide a comprehensive update on various aspects of algal biofuel production and CO₂ sequestration. Hence, researchers from academia and industry are invited to contribute their experimental and/or review manuscript related to the theme of algal bioenergy and carbon sequestration focusing on, but not limited to:

- Algal culturing techniques
- Photobioreactors
- Algal biomass production methods
- Harvesting, extraction and processing of algal biomass for biofuel production
- Bioreactor designing and biorefinery
- CO₂ sequestration and strategies for strain improvement
- Factors regulating biofuel production/carbon sequestration by algae

Keywords: Algal Biomass, Bioenergy, Biofuel, Carbon Sequestration, Photobioreactor

Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.