Wastewater, reclaimed water, and seawater utilization in the production of microalgae-based fuels

Biofuel production from microalgae is affected by the cost of the cultivation of microalgal biomass. The cultivation of microalgae for third-generation biofuels in wastewater, reclaimed water, and seawater could be a cost-effective way to obtain microalgal biomass. This option would serve to reduce costs and treat wastewaters and reclaimed water at the same time. Autotrophic and mixotrophic cultivation make use of wastewater and nutrients, using light and CO2 to obtain high percentages of nitrogen and phosphorous removal. The advantage of microalgae grown in this way is twofold: wastewater treatment and microalgal production without the addition of water and nutrients. Biofuels from microalgae grown in this way would replace fossil fuels with renewable and carbon-neutral fuels in a sustainable way and contribute to the circular economy of water resources. In this review, an updated evaluation of microalgal cultivation in wastewater, reclaimed water, and seawater together with biofuel generation will be shown.Peer reviewe