Microalgae, with representatives in all but one of
the major algal divisions, are an important component of
the biota of the worlds aquatic environments. They
include phytoplankton that are almost entirely
responsible for the primary production of all marine and
freshwater bodies. They occur at the base of the food
chains upon which the worlds fisheries industries
depend, and in the numerous aquaculture projects upon
which the world will increasingly come to rely on a
large portion of its protein requirement. Their use for
the mass production of stock feed and for direct human
consumption, already being practised in many parts of
the world, is likely to become of increasing importance
in the future as is the exploitation of their ability to
serve as a source of key metabolites in the food
industry and in the synthesis of a range of other
high-value products. The mass culture of microalgae
under controlled conditions is also under consideration
for its potential to provide an alternative source of
biomass and for the production of biofuels, such as
biodiesel, that does not compete for land that can be
more profitably used for the production of traditional
food crops. The potential of microalgae as a commercial
source of another energy source, hydrogen, is also under
investigation with a view to exploiting the ability of
some microalgae, unique among oxygenic photosynthetic
organisms, to release hydrogen gas produced from the
photolytic splitting of water. The proven role of
microalgae in waste-water treatment and in various
environmental remediation processes as well as their
potential contribution as a vital component of
carbon-capture schemes will also be described. This book
surveys our current understanding of those aspects of
the biology of microalgae which constitute the basis of
the range of practical applications now under
consideration for their potential contribution to human
health and well-being. The focus is largely on
physiological and biochemical processes of microalgae as
they are currently known, with the aim of providing some
of the basic background information against which
present and proposed future developments can be
assessed. Many of these developments, if they are to be
successful, will require collaboration of engineers,
process biochemists and microbiologists as well as those
trained to address economic and environmental
considerations. It is hoped that this book, will provide
for such workers and for the lay person, an overview of
some of the relevant basic biology of the microalgae,
highlighting their metabolic flexibility and their vast
potential as a valuable resource that is yet to be fully
realised.
|
|