Microbial Alkane/Alkene as Drop-in Biofuel

Microbial alkanes/alkenes are a special class of bio-hydrocarbons that can act as drop-in biofuels. It provides a bypass route for making an intermediate precursor of a commercial product. There is no complex processing required which is used in conventional petroleum refineries. Microbial processing also reduces GHG emissions. There is a variety of microbial alkanes/alkenes that can be used as drop-in biofuel (mostly heptadecane and 1-undecene). This chapter summarizes the types of alkane/alkenes, source microorganisms, biosynthetic pathways, engineering approaches, production improvements, suitable substrates, and the use of alkane/alkene as drop-in biofuel. Here, the potential utilization and future perspective of using bio-based alkane/alkene are also discussed.