110 Bioinfo Publications IJCR International Journal of Chemical Research ISSN: 0975-3699 & E-ISSN: 0975–9131, Vol. 3, Issue 3, 2011, pp-110-117 Available online at http://www.bioinfo.in/contents.php?id=23 AN OVERVIEW OF CO2 MITIGATION USING ALGAE CULTIVATION TECHNOLOGY SUDHAKAR K. 1 , SURESH S. 2 *, PREMALATHA M. 3 1 Department of Energy, Maulana Azad National Institute of Technology, Bhopal-462 051, India 2* Department of Chemical Engineering, Maulana Azad National Institute of Technology, Bhopal-462 051, India 3 CEESAT, National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirapalli-620 015, India *Corresponding Author: Email- sureshpecchem@gmail.com/sureshs@manit.ac.in Received: August 08, 2011; Accepted: October 07, 2011 Abstract- From the industrial revolution to the present, energy consumption has lead to a substantial rise in atmospheric greenhouse gases. The burning of fossil fuels accounts for about 80% of the rise of atmospheric carbon-dioxide (CO2), since the pre-industrial era, to its current level of 390 ppm. The increase in CO2 is already causing changes in the climate such as global warming. The “micro-algae based technology” (Biological carbon sequestration) is a new, might be the most promising, environmentally friendly and cost-effective means of reducing CO2 emissions in the energy sector. The most common micro- algae species are Spirulina sp., Chlorella sp a ., Haematococcus sp a . and Dunaliella sp a ., etc. This technology, have more important characteristics apart from carbon sequestration such as high biomass yield per unit of light and area. In this context, paper has focused the underlying issues in CO2 sequestration from algae based on geography, photosynthetic light, productivity and application of algal biomass. for conditions prevailing in India. Key words -Micro-algae, biomass, biofuel, CO2 sequestration, bioreactors Introduction The increase of world energy demand and greenhouse gas (GHG) emission has been concerning all sectors since last decades. An economic growth combined with a rising population has led to a steady increase in global energy demands. If the governments around the world stick to current policies, the world will need almost more percent of energy than energy in 2030 than today. Of this 45% will be accounted by China and India together [1-2]. On a worldwide basis, coal is by far, the largest fossil energy resource available. Coal will remain the mainstay of world baseline electricity generation by the year 2015 [1]. The combined use of fossil fuels is not sustainable, as they are finite resources [2] and their combustion will lead to increased energy-related emission of GHG, CO2, sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx). Since the onset of the industrial revolution about 150 years ago, human activities such as the burning of fossil fuels and deforestation have accelerated, and both have contributed to a long-term rise in atmospheric burning fossil fuel (oil, natural gas and coal) releases carbon into the atmosphere far more rapidly than it is being removed, and this imbalance causes increase carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations in the atmosphere. Power generation, transport, industry and domestic uses are also contributing for increasing CO2. However; CO2 produced by combustion of fossil fuels is a major source of GHG emission, because CO2 increases the atmosphere’s ability to hold heat, approximately atmosphere is loaded with around 90 MT (million tonnes) of heat trapping substances every day that slowly wrap the earth with an artificial GHG screen. The climates change due to CO2 level should not be allowed to get much higher than 550 ppm as per ‘Keeling curve’. CO2 emissions are expected to increase at an annual rate of 3%. The potential effects of global warming on India vary from the submergence of low lying islands and coastal lands to the melting of glaciers in the Indian Himalayas, threatening the volumetric flow rate of many of important rivers of India and South Asia. It is the increased demand for energy, particularly in the developing world, which underlies the projected increase in CO2 emissions. In addition, by clearing forests, we reduce the ability of photosynthesis to remove CO2 from the atmosphere, also resulting in a net increase of CO2 and atmospheric CO2 concentrations are higher today than they have been over the last half-million years or longer (~390 ppm of CO2 concentration in the atmosphere on 2010) which was estimated by ‘Keeling curve’ [3]. In terms of emission volumes, CO2 is the major GHG, with nearly 80% of world emissions and 70-75% of the emission of industrialised countries, its increase the atmospheric (CO2 or carbonic gas) by 30% between 1745 and 1998 [4]. Energy-induced CO2 emission stood at 25 billion tonnes in 2003. The US, responsible for 27% of world emission. Russia after a 24% fall its emissions between 1990 and 2003. China is emitting practically as much CO2 as the European Union of 25, with 15% of world emission. India emits three times less than China. In France is emitting 2.2 times fewer tonnes of CO2 than Germany and 1.4 times less the UK [4]. Many attribute the observed 0.6 o C increase in global average temperature over the past century mainly due to increases in atmospheric CO2. The best scientific a text with details given in algae-planet.com, ncbi.nlm.nih.gov, genome.jgi-psf.org