Incorporation of Waste Streams into Algal Bioethanol for Sustainable Energy on Campus

Project Basics

Project Sponsor: Biofuels Technology Club RSO

Amount Awarded: $5,010

Grant Awarded: Spring 2024

Project Status: In Progress

Project Description 

For the past decade, the Biofuels Technology Club has been collecting waste cooking oil from campus dining halls to convert it into biodiesel. This process has significant pitfalls such as waste glycerol production and variable diesel quality. This project aims to solve these issues by using algal biomass as a secondary source for both biodiesel and bioethanol. The waste glycerol serves as nutrient-rich feedstock for the algae boosting intracellular lipid content that can be converted into diesel. The leftover algal biomass after lipid extraction can be further fermented into bioethanol.

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