Biodiesel Production Using Biotechnology Methods and Microbial Oil

Excessive consumption of fossil fuels and excessive production of CO2, in addition to problems related to the golabal warming cause air pollution. This has attracted more attention to biodiesel production. Among the benefits of biodiesel production is that when it burns no net CO2 is emitted. Therefore, finding a biological way to produce biodiesel has not only economical value but also it is valuable in terms of environmental aspects and impact on human health. The goal of this study was application of oleaginous yeast for biodiesel production and optimization of production process.
In this study, the oleaginous fungus Mortierella alpina with high capacity of lipid production was used for microbial oil production. After analyzing the produced oil by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), its potential for biodiesel production was evaluated. Also optimization of medium condition for increasing lipid production was done. The optimized condition was used in a semi laboratory (pilot-scale) fermentor I order to evaluate lipid production.
Findings: The evaluated fungal strain had the highest lipid production of 10.9g/L. This strain had biodiesel yield of 71% and the highest fatty acid was oleic acid with amount of 38%.
The lipid composition in this fungus has a high similarity with plants oil and can compete with plants lipid for biodiesel production and is valuable from economical point of view.