Role of Microalgae in Global CO 2 Sequestration: Physiological Mechanism, Recent Development, Challenges, and Future Prospective

Ravindra Prasad, Sanjay Kumar Gupta, Nisha Shabnam, Carlos Yure B. Oliveira, Arvind Kumar Nema, Faiz Ahmad Ansari and Faizal Bux
Additional contact information
Ravindra Prasad: Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi 110016, India
Sanjay Kumar Gupta: Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi 110016, India
Nisha Shabnam: Department of Biophysics, Centre of the Region Haná for Biotechnological and Agricultural Research, Faculty of Science, Palacký University, 78371 Olomouc, Czech Republic
Carlos Yure B. Oliveira: Departamento de Pesca e Aquicultura, Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco, Recife 52171-900, Brazil
Arvind Kumar Nema: Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi 110016, India
Faiz Ahmad Ansari: Institute for Water and Wastewater Technologies, Durban University of Technology, Durban 4001, South Africa
Faizal Bux: Institute for Water and Wastewater Technologies, Durban University of Technology, Durban 4001, South Africa

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 23, 1-18

Abstract: The rising concentration of global atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) has severely affected our planet’s homeostasis. Efforts are being made worldwide to curb carbon dioxide emissions, but there is still no strategy or technology available to date that is widely accepted. Two basic strategies are employed for reducing CO 2 emissions, viz. (i) a decrease in fossil fuel use, and increased use of renewable energy sources; and (ii) carbon sequestration by various biological, chemical, or physical methods. This review has explored microalgae’s role in carbon sequestration, the physiological apparatus, with special emphasis on the carbon concentration mechanism (CCM). A CCM is a specialized mechanism of microalgae. In this process, a sub-cellular organelle known as pyrenoid, containing a high concentration of Ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase-oxygenase (Rubisco), helps in the fixation of CO 2 . One type of carbon concentration mechanism in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii and the association of pyrenoid tubules with thylakoids membrane is represented through a typical graphical model. Various environmental factors influencing carbon sequestration in microalgae and associated techno-economic challenges are analyzed critically.

Keywords: microalgae; pyrenoid; carbon sequestration; carbon emissions; algae (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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