There is increasing interest for sustainable bioenergy production to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and reduce reliance on fossil fuels. Biofuel can be generated from a wide variety of feedstock types including algae. Algae are an attractive feedstock for the production of liquid and gaseous biofuels that do not need to directly compete with food production. However, both the sustainability and the economic viability of algal biofuels have been questioned, particularly with regard to high carbon and fertiliser input requirements, and high cultivation and production costs. Improved understanding and modifications at a biological level, of algal genetics, carbon storage metabolism, photosynthesis and algal physiology, have the potential for significant advances in algal biofuel feasibility. This is being driven by advances in genomic technologies to provide the potential for genetic and metabolic engineering, plus the development of high-throughput techniques for the screening of natural strains for suitable biofuel characteristics.
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