Biodiesel

• According to the University of Washington, algae was seriously being considered as an alternative fuel replacement for petroleum during the 1970s gasoline shortage. Some primary factors that prohibit wide-scale algae fuel production has to do with production costs and land needed to grow this fuel crop. NREL states that microalgae has the potential to compete with conventional fuel sources since it can be grown over water instead of land and it can also be grown without competing with food resources that are needed to provide nutrition for people. Currently, biodiesel fuels are mixed with fossil fuel petroleum products to reduce emission and to enhance current fuel supplies.
  
  

Bio-Hydrogen

• There are different biological methods for converting microalgae into a hydrogen-based fuel and they include steam reformation of bio-oils, dark and photo fermentation of organic materials and photolysis of water catalyzed by special micro-algal species. Microalgae can produce hydrogen fuel through this process and this fuel can be used for fuel cells, liquefaction of coal and upgrading heavy oils.
  
  

Bio-Oil

• Bio-oil is partly derived from microalgae and it is used with hydroprocessing technology in order to create fuel for jets or it's used for military applications. Microalgae is cultivated and manipulated in order to produce lipids or oils and then it undergoes a hydroprocessing process in order to create fuel for jets. Microalgae is hydroprocessed within a fuel refinery and it is treated the same way as conventional oil.
  
  

Bio-Syngas

• When biomass is heated with a certain amount of oxygen needed to complete combustion it produces a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen called syngas. Biomass is also used to produce a liquid bio-oil when it is heated in the absence of oxygen. Once syngas and bio-oil are created, they are then processed into clean fuels that can be used with conventional gasoline.