Oman Has Good Prospects for Microalgal Biofuel Production

by Santhosh Muthalath (Oman Observer) The production of liquid fuels from biological material or ‘biomass’ is gaining popularity across the world. Factors such as climate change, rising fuel prices, political instability and depletion of petroleum resources are some of the recent concerns that have sparked this interest into alternatives for fossil fuels. As a result, many different biomass sources are being evaluated as suitable feedstocks for biofuel production, and these range from plant material, to animal waste, to microorganisms such algae and genetically engineered bacteria and cyanobacteria. More recently, research has focused on exploiting microbial systems for the biosynthesis of a wide range of drop-in liquid biofuels.
Dr Lamya Adnan al Haj, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biology of the College of Science at Sultan Qaboos University, who did her PhD research at the University College London, UK, focusing on the use of genetically modified cyanobacteria for the production of drop-in liquid biofuels, says that the aquatic unicellular microorganisms, algae and cyanobacteria, which are considered together as ‘microalgae’ offer significant advantages for biofuel production.
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The introduction of one or more novel enzymes into a cyanobacterium can result in the synthesis of “ready to use fuels” that do not require further refining or chemical modification for use in an automobile engine. Furthermore, additional genetic engineering of these strains can result in increases in the yield of these fuel molecules and their export from the cell into the growth medium, making the recovery of the fuel simpler since cells do not need to be broken or sacrificed.
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Currently, there is no one cyanobacterial strain, fuel molecule or production process that has emerged as the best focus. Therefore, there is plenty of room for more innovative research and development towards the goal of using these humble photosynthetic bacteria to convert sunlight and CO2 into the biofuels of the future.
However, in the words of Dr Lamya, the geographical location of the Sultanate of Oman provides required conditions for easy cultivation of algae. “In Oman, we have plenty of arid land available to grow algae in open ponds on an industrial scale; Furthermore, Oman has high temperatures throughout the year and a long coastline to provide sea water for algae growth. These advantages would allow for easy mass cultivation of algae that is also linked to carbon dioxide capture further contributing to a cleaner environment” says Lamya who has always been interested in the field of renewable energy with special interest in the production of biofuels from microalgae. READ MORE