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Production of chemicals from microalgae lipids – status and perspectives
Author(s) -
Hess Sandra K.,
Lepetit Bernard,
Kroth Peter G.,
Mecking Stefan
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
european journal of lipid science and technology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.614
H-Index - 94
eISSN - 1438-9312
pISSN - 1438-7697
DOI - 10.1002/ejlt.201700152
Subject(s) - biochemical engineering , algae , biofuel , production (economics) , microbiology and biotechnology , environmental science , synthetic biology , biology , engineering , botany , computational biology , economics , macroeconomics
The engineering of algae strains, cultivation, and further processing steps in microalgae production are considered in view of the utilization of microalgae lipids for chemicals. Insights from biofuel production trials on the one hand and existing processes for very high‐value pharmaceuticals on the other hand are instructive to this end. A recent example of the production of a surfactant from chemical intermediates gained from algae oil and further opportunities are discussed. Microalgae oil lipids are discussed as an alternative source for chemicals. The tuning of lipid production in microalgae via genetic engineering and cultivation optimization for this purpose is reviewed. We further illuminate the bottlenecks of upscaling and the state of the art in industrial algae production by means of three concrete case studies. We give insights into the catalytic functionalization to high‐value products.