On the Web

• Bio & Ag Engineering
• Additional reports

Biotechnology

Microalgae Production System for Biofuels

Georgia has a large forest biomass resource base and many industries that generate byproducts that are potential sources of fuel and energy production. In typical traditional harvesting, small diameter trees and tops and limbs of harvested trees are not used and remain in the forest. Finding ways to harvest and use these residues can generate income to the forest owner and serve as a source of renewable energy. In Georgia, roughly 7.6 million tons of organic wastes from municipal sources are generated each year. In addition, agricultural organics such as poultry litter, industrial organics such as wood wastes and food processing and textile wastes constitute a large amount of under-utilized resources. The Biorefinery and Carbon Cycling Program at the University of Georgia focuses on advancing technology through laboratory scale research, field scale pilot testing for demonstration and through providing technical assistance and education to professionals working in the solid waste area. From an initial emphasis on solid waste processing technologies, they have broadened the scope to developing technologies that contribute to forming a biorefinery. A biorefinery would take biomass as input and transform it into a variety of products including chemicals, fuels and energy. Microalgae production system for biofuels based on wastewater treatment is a focus area. Work is directed at building a stable algae production system that can be commercially operated to produce oils and biomass for fuel production. (2007)

Source

top