This problem appeared in the June review of the subject of Industrial Microbiology.
With the current energy crisis are looking for new sources of hydrocarbons. It is increasingly clear that biofuels produced growing yeast from grain or other human food sources are more cons than pros. One drawback is that they diminish the food supply, with subsequent higher prices for them.
One possible solution is the use of microorganisms to produce biodiesel, mostly a lot of interest in photosynthetic bacteria. Thanks to the bacteria produce lipid metabolism that are then extracted and processed to produce biodiesel.
But bacteria have been out a competitor. There are companies that are investigating eukaryotic unicellular algae. As photosynthetic bacteria, algae also produce lipids that are then processed into biodiesel.
growth parameters of both types of organisms are:
you think
- What are the advantages of using photosynthetic microorganisms to produce biofuels instead of yeast-based methods and food products?
- Which of the two crops is more advantageous or less inconvenience to the industrial production of biodiesel and why?
