Third-Generation Biofuels: A Promising Approach for Environmental Sustainability

Third-generation biofuels derived from microbial sources have recently emerged as viable fuel feedstocks, overcoming direct reliance on fossil fuels. Commercialising microbial technology for biofuel generation remains a complicated and contentious job, owing to a variety of problems related to life cycle evaluation and the technoeconomic feasibility of microorganism-derived biofuels. The long-term viability of first-generation biofuels derived from agricultural products is currently being questioned, as they are not seen as viable long-term energy sources. Similarly, second-generation biofuels derived from non-food feedstock have commercial hurdles due to high processing costs that render them commercially unviable. In contrast, because they overcome the drawbacks of previous generations of biofuels, third-generation microalgal biofuels are regarded as the most realistic and long-term response to emerging energy requirements of biofuel. This brief chapter gives a summary of recent developments in economic research on the production of biofuels from first-, second-, third-, and fourth-generation microalgae.