Nanotechnology-mediated production of biodiesel from microalgal biomass: a sustainable approach in biorefinery

Biodiesel can be produced from a number of feedstock using different production strategies. The conventional process, which is usually applied at industrial scale, involves the use of high-quality oil, methanol/ethanol, and homogeneous base catalysts. The high price of quality oil and the difficulties in the separation of the catalyst from the product impose the main challenge and make this option very expensive. Accordingly, a number of studies have been carried out to identify the cheapest method and the cheapest feedstock for the production of fuel-quality biodiesel. Nonedible plant oil, microalgae, animal fat, and waste cooking oil are the most preferred feedstocks to lower biodiesel production costs. Similarly, acid, enzyme, and nanomaterial catalyzed process options are promising ones for fuel-quality biodiesel production from such cheap feedstocks. The production of biodiesel from microalgal biomass through nanomaterial catalyzed process is an emerging option, which shows promising results in terms of attaining quality product, environmental benefits, more valuable by-products, wastewater treatment, and potential to reduce total production cost. Therefore in this chapter, various studies on nanotechnology-assisted processes for biodiesel production from microalgal biomass have been reviewed. In addition, advances in nanocatalysts for biodiesel production have been highlighted and the suitability of microalgal biomass for the production of fuel-quality biodiesel has also been indicated.