Algae as a fuel /biofuel

Algae are a very large and diverse group of simple, typically autotrophic organisms, ranging from unicellular to multicellular forms, such as the giant kelp (large brown alga), that may grow up to 50 meters in length. Most are photosynthetic and "simple" because they lack many of the distinct cell organelles and cell types found in land plants. The largest and most complex marine forms are called seaweeds. The lipid, or oily part of the algae biomass can then be extracted and converted into biodiesel through a process similar to that used for any other vegetable oil, or converted in a refinery into "drop-in" replacements for petroleum-based fuels. The algae's carbohydrate content can be fermented into bioethanol and biobutanol.

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Reproduction process in spirogyra

Spirogyra is a genus of filamentous charophyte green algae of the order Zygnematales, named for the helical or spiral arrangement of the chloroplasts that is diagnostic of the genus. It is commonly found in freshwater areas, and there are more than 400 species of Spirogyra in the world. Spirogyra measures approximately 10 to 100μm in width and may stretch centimeters long.

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The reef home: How algal and coral cover affect the microscopic life

A new study by biologists at San Diego State University and Scripps Institution of Oceanography shows that inhabited coral islands that engage in commercial fishing 

dramatically alter their nearby reef ecosystems, disturbing the microbes, corals, algae and fish that call the reef home.

The study's lead author, Linda Wegley Kelly, is a postdoctoral scholar in the lab of SDSU virologist Forest Rohwer. She's been involved in some capacity with Rohwer's lab for the past 13 years, beginning as a lab technician.

For the study, she looked at seawater samples collected from the surfaces of reefs surrounding all 11 of the Line Islands, a chain of atolls in the central Pacific Ocean. Over the past five years, Kelly and her colleagues have made sporadic trips to the islands, collecting the samples with a specially adapted bilge pump that sucks up approximately 100 liters of water in a given area.

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Oedogonium

Oedogonium is an exclusively fresh water algae. Out of about 400 species more than 200 have been reported from India. They are very common in pools, ponds, lakes etc. The

filamentous plant body may get attached with the stone, wood, leaves of aquatic plants, small branches of dead plant remain in water etc. by their basal cell the holdfast. Some species like O. terrestris are terrestrial.

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BRIEF KNOWLEDGE ABOUT THE VOLVOX

Volvox is a genus of chlorophytes, a type of green algae. Volvox are one-celled algae that live together in a colony.It forms spherical colonies of up to 50,000 cells. They live in a variety of freshwater habitats, and were first reported by Antonie van Leeuwenhoek in 1700. Volvox developed its colonial lifestyle 200 million years ago.Volvox is a green alga that can be considered as an aggregation of unicellular Chlamydomonas-like green algae: a colony. The daughter

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ALGAE AS FISH FEED

Fish feed is plant or animal material intended for consumption by fish kept in aquariums or ponds. Algae have been used in animal and human diets since very early times. Filamentous algae are usually considered as ‘macrophytes’ since they often form floating masses that can be easily harvested, although many consist of microscopic, individual filaments of algal cells. Algae also form a component of periphyton, which not only provides natural food for fish and other aquatic animals but is actively promoted by fishers and aquaculturists as a means of increasing productivity. Marine ‘seaweeds’ are macro-algae that have defined and characteristic

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Benefits of Algae

Algae are emerging to be one of the most promising long-term, sustainable sources of biomass and oils for fuel, food, feed, and other co-products. What makes them so attractive are the large number and wide variety of benefits associated with how and where they grow. The lipid, or oily part of the algae biomass can then be extracted and converted into biodiesel through a process similar to that used for any other vegetable oil, or converted in a refinery into "drop-in" replacements for petroleum-based fuels. The algae's carbohydrate content can be fermented into bioethanol and biobutanol.Nearly all these benefits stem from the fact that these plants have evolved over billions of years to produce and store energy in the form of oil, and they do this more efficiently than any other known natural or engineered process. Here are 10 reasons why algae are a promising new source of fuel and other products:

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what is green algae?

A variety of algae growing on the rock

Algae are simple plants that can range from the microscopic (microalgae), to large seaweeds (macroalgae), such as giantkelp more than one hundred feet in length. Microalgae include both cyanobacteria, (similar to bacteria, and formerly called “blue-green algae”) as well as green, brown and red al-gae. (There are more varieties of microalgae, but these are the main ones.)Algae can be grown using water resources such as brackish-, sea-, and wastewater unsuitable for cultivating agricultural crops. When using wastewater, such as municipal, animal and even some industrial

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