An approach to make biofuels with microalgae secreting photosynthetic products

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Microalgae, non-competitive biomaterials with any food market, are expected as next generation biomass to make biofuels. To develop a new method to make biofuels, Chlorella-like algae isolated from Paramecium bursaria was used as microalgae in this study. The algae can secrete their photosynthetic products outwardly. Thus, the photosynthetic products released from the algae can be used for making biofuels. Results showed that artificial operations including adjustment of pH and aqueous CO2 concentration could significantly control secretion of photosynthetic products from the algae. In addition, yeast could convert the secreted carbohydrates into ethanol functioning as biofuels. However, it is important for a practical standpoint of this system using the algae to optimize the algal activity to secrete photosynthetic carbohydrates. It has to be also investigated whether the up-regulation of the algal activity to secrete carbohydrates is artificially induced through gene technologies.