Technological watch

The prospects of algae as an alternative raw source for biofuel production, various cultivation, harvesting, and conversion methodologies with merits and demerits, and the formation of bioproducts by thermochemical processes are reviewed. Technological breakthroughs like genetic engineering, synthetic biology, and nanotechnology can enhance biofuel manufacturing techniques by altering or introducing specific genes. The objective of this review is to interpret the usage of alternative renewable systems that is imperative for future developments on a global industrial scale. Microalgae have appeared as the most realistic source for biofuel generation due to the accumulation of lipids in most of the strains with rapid biomass expansion and greater photosynthetic efficiency than land plants. Microalgal?derived feedstocks have a broad range of commercial advantages and can be used as promising renewable fuel substitutes with zero net CO2 emission. Important facets of algal?based biofuel production, growing and harvesting techniques, approaches to thermochemical conversion, synthesis of commodities with added value, and recent breakthroughs in the field of synthetic biology for fuel production are covered.