MOSCOW, July 20 – Trend Wire. Produce biodiesel from microalgae Scenedesmus proposed by scientists from Immanuel Kant IKBFU together with colleagues from Moscow and St. Petersburg. In their opinion, environmentally friendly motor fuel can become an alternative to traditional petrochemical diesel fuel, which will help overcome the global energy crisis. Results of scientific work published V Research Square.
Biodiesel fuel is obtained from vegetable oils or animal fats by chemical processing. It has a number of advantages: non-toxic, biodegradable, high lubricity, and can be used in modern diesel engines without additional modifications. A mixture of biodiesel and fossil diesel fuel is actively used as a transport fuel in Germany, Italy and Malaysia. Experts predict that by 2030, biodiesel could replace up to seven percent of global fossil fuel consumption.
Scientists at the Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University have come to the conclusion that microalgae of the genus can be used as promising raw materials for the production of biofuels Scenedesmuswhich are high in lipids (fats).
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“The advantages of microalgae are the high efficiency of photosynthesis, significant lipid content, as well as ease of cultivation and the absence of the need for large arable areas,” Lyubov Dyshlyuk, head of the laboratory of microbiology and biotechnology, scientific director of the postgraduate program “Biotechnology” at Immanuel Kant IKBFU, told Trend Wire.
At the same time, she added that microalgae can be cultivated in different types of systems – these can be both closed systems (laboratory photobioreactors) and open ones (regular reservoirs). According to her, in Asian countries, Australia and some European countries there are entire enterprises that cultivate microalgae on a large scale. Pools, ponds and lagoons are used for this purpose.
Kaliningrad scientists cultivate microalgae in flasks and laboratory bioreactors with a volume of up to five liters.
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“We change the cultivation conditions, set a certain composition of the nutrient medium and purposefully change the quality of the final product,” Dyshlyuk emphasized.
According to her, microalgae have a high growth rate. “If we compare microalgae with plant sources for producing biofuels, for example, with grains and oilseeds (this is what many researchers are now focusing on – editor’s note), then, of course, microalgae compared to them significantly benefit in growth rate,” she explained.
At the same time, as the scientist believes, it is too early to talk about a complete replacement of petrochemical diesel fuel with biodiesel.
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“To avoid problems with the internal combustion engine, only a partial replacement is currently proposed, when biodiesel is mixed in a certain percentage with diesel fuel obtained from oil. In addition, in Russia and throughout the world, the problem of large-scale cultivation of microalgae remains,” the researcher added.
At the same time, speaking about the global prospects for the introduction of such technologies, she pointed to the large-scale consequences for global energy.
“Today, American and European standards for biodiesel fuel have already been developed and are in force. By the way, in our development we were guided by these standards. The product is definitely interesting and in demand, we see great prospects in this,” summed up the scientific director.
The study, carried out with the financial support of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of Russia, involved scientists from the Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University, the K. A. Timiryazev Institute of Plant Physiology of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Moscow) and St. Petersburg State University.
Source: RIA