Microalgal biomass: a promising source of clean energy in Morocco

Abstract

The recent energy dependence and climate change policies encourage development and utilization of renewable and clean energy forms worldwide. After solar and wind, biomass as source of biofuels is attracting an increased interest because of the diversity of biofuels that can be produced from this renewable resource. Among the vast array of biomasses available (waste biomass, lignocellulosic biomass, etc.), algae are regarded as the only source of renewable biofuels capable to meet the global demand for biofuels mainly for transport. Depending on the used technology, microalgal biomass can be used to produce at least 6 forms of biofuels: biodiesel, bio-oil, bioethanol, jet fuel, hydrogen and biogas, some of them are yet produced at large scale. This paper will provide an extensive review of the biofuels produced from microalgal biomass, named third generation biofuels and analyze the possibility to develop such activity in Morocco.