Biofuels & Bioenergy

Although algal biomass is considered to be a potentially high value feedstock for biofuel production, the path to commercialization is challenged by high production costs. This is largely due to high capital and operating costs for algal cultivation based on current technologies, but improvements in other unit operations will also be needed. This presentation will highlight research activities at NREL that are aimed at development of production strains with improved biofuel production characteristics, identification of large volume co-products, and development of novel technologies for biomass conversion to reduce costs and energy inputs. These activities will be placed into a framework of techno-economic analysis to help establish a scenario for an integrated algal biofuel production process that could compete with petroleum-based fuels.