Sustainable Development of Algal Biofuels

Domestic production of renewable fuels, including algal biofuels, has the potential to meet the dual goals of improving energy security and decreasing greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions from the transportation sector in the United States. Biofuels produced from microalgae and cyanobacteria offer potential advantages over terrestrial plant-based biofuels, such as high biomass productivity and the ability to grow in cultivation ponds or photobioreactors on nonarable lands using saline water or wastewater sources. However, along with potential environmental and social benefits, production of algal biofuels could result in significant resource inputs and in negative environmental and other detrimental effects, as is true of all forms of energy production.