Production of Bioethanol from Green Alga Chlorella Vulgaris: An Important Approach to Utilize Algal Feedstock or Waste

Regular depletion of fossil fuels urges human society to depend on renewable resources seriously and invest more on biofuels sector. Recently generation of bioethanol from algal feedstock or algal waste has been an interesting research. Unlike fossil fuels, production of bioethanol from algal feedstock or waste will take less time and expensive. In the present study, an important green alga Chlorella vulgaris (C. vulgaris) was selected for ethanol production. Chlorella vulgaris cultures were initiated under in vitro conditions using universal tris-acetate-phosphate (TAP) medium along with various concentrations and combinations of vitamins such as thiamin, biotin and cobalamin (B1, B7 and B12) to enhance the biomass in turn ethanol production. Optimal level of vitamins i.e. CV2 medium (TAP with 0.4 g/L of B1, 0.002 g/L of B7 and 0.002 g/L of B12) augmented the biomass production including lipid contents. Later all the algal feedstocks were used for production of ethanol in the company of Saccharomyces cerevisiae (S. cerevisiae) in both light and dark fermentations. Higher levels of ethanol production was achieved with the feedstock generated from CV2 medium at 48 h in dark fermentation and compared with other feedstocks as well with light fermentation yield at different time intervals. The results of the present investigation may grab the attention of investors in bioenergy sector for the production of bioethanol at commercial level from algal feedstock or algal waste.