Biomass is a crucial energy resource used for the generation of electricity and transportation fuels. Microalgae exhibit a high content of biocomponents which makes them a potential feedstock for the generation of ecofriendly biofuels. Biofuels derived from microalgae are suitable carbon-neutral replacements for petroleum. Fermentation is the major process for metabolic conversion of microalgal...

The use microalgae biomass for the production of biofuels has received great attention in the last decades. Microalgae biofuels could be important alternative to conventional biofuels since microalgae could be produced at high rates without the need of neither arable land, potable water or competition with food. However, the high energy intensive harvesting processes are limiting the commercial...

The development of renewable biofuels is a global priority, but success will require novel technologies that greatly improve our understanding of microbial systems biology. An approach with great promise in enabling functional characterization of microbes is activity-based protein profiling (ABPP), which employs chemical probes to directly measure enzyme function in discrete enzyme classes in v...

Most prior studies have found that substituting biofuels for gasoline will reduce greenhouse gases because biofuels sequester carbon through the growth of the feedstock. These analyses have failed to count the carbon emissions that occur as farmers worldwide respond to higher prices and convert forest and grassland to new cropland to replace the grain (or cropland) diverted to biofuels. By usin...

Lignocellulosic biofuels represent a sustainable, renewable, and the only foreseeable alternative energy source to transportation fossil fuels. However, the recalcitrant nature of lignocellulose poses technical hurdles to an economically viable biorefinery. Low enzymatic hydrolysis efficiency and low productivity, yield, and titer of biofuels are among the top cost contributors. Protein enginee...

Energy security and climate change have cascading effects on the world’s burgeoning population in terms of food security, environment, sustainability. Due to depletion fossil fuels undesirable changes climatic conditions, increase air water pollution, mankind started exploring alternate sustainable means meeting growing energy needs. One options is use renewable sources fuel–biofuel. In this ch...

Europe’s plans to more than double its use of biofuels by 2020 is ‘significantly’ adding to worldwide carbon emissions, according to a new report. Europe is committed to source 10 per cent of its transport fuel from renewable sources, such as biofuels, within 10 years. But the British government says the policy is proving counterproductive and the greenhouse emissions associated with biofuels a...