Light capture and processing technology for enhanced biofuel production by microalgae

藻类为大规模生产碳中性生物燃料带来了巨大希望，这种燃料可以避免陆地生物燃料(如棕榈油)的许多问题，因为它们只需要陆地作物约10%的空间，并且可以利用废水来生长和营养。然而，目前的生产系统相对于化石燃料和第一代生物燃料来说都是不经济的，需要进行重大的循序渐进的改进来解决这一问题。有机会提高藻类上游生产和下游加工的成本效益，以缩小藻类生物燃料和化石燃料之间的差距，但这将需要与目前使用的方法截然不同的方法。这个可行性研究项目将由Xanthella和圣安德鲁斯大学的一个物理学家团队合作完成，Xanthella是一家总部位于欧班的生物技术中小企业，生产紧凑、高效的藻类光生物反应器。该项目旨在实现藻类光生物反应器(PBR)在太阳能照明下运行以生产碳中性生物燃料的性价比的阶段性变化。这将通过开发一种创新的太阳能收集组件来实现，该组件用于Xanthella的内部照明光生物反应器设计。

Algae hold great promise for the large scale production of carbon-neutral biofuels that avoid many of the problems of terrestrial biofuels (such as Palm Oil) in that they require only about 10% of the space of terrestrial crops and can use waste water for growth and their nutrients. Current production systems are, however, uneconomic against both fossil and first generation biofuels and require significant step wise improvements to redress this. There are opportunities for improvements in the cost effectiveness of both upstream production and downstream processing of algae to close the gap between algal biofuel and fossil fuels but these will require radically different approaches from those currently employed.This feasibility study project will be a collaboration between Xanthella, a biotechnology SME based in Oban who produce compact, efficient algal photo bioreactors, and a team of physicists at the University of St Andrews who are experts in optical materials and photophysics. The project aims to deliver a step change in the performance-cost ratio of algal photo bioreactors (PBRs) operating under solar illumination for the production of carbon neutral biofuels. This will be achieved through the development of an innovative solar light collection component for use in Xanthella's internally-lit photobioreactor designs.