Bioenergy Production and Nutrients Removal by Green Microalgae with Cultivation from Agro-Wastewater Palm Oil Mill Effluent (POME) - A Review

Abstract

Environmental pollution specifically wastewater is gaining attention both in the developed and developing countries. Malaysia is considered as one of the major palm oil producers in the world. Therefore, it is important to develop an environmental friendly and economic method to treat palm oil mill effluent (POME). The wastewater can serve as an economical nutrient source or substrate that can support the cultivation of microalgae. This can be a great nutrient for algal cultivation at the same time as remediating effluent and generating biomass. Nowadays, many microalgae species are being investigated to determine their potential and effectiveness for phytoremediation application, especially high growth rate. However, using synthetic media for growing microalgae in a mass scale is costly. It is acknowledged that POME (as nutrients enriched media) assisted enhanced microalgae growth under certain condition can considerably reduce the presence of organic and inorganic compounds. In this review, the potential of wide range of the predominant microalgae species with main focus on green microalgae (high removal efficiency): Chlamydomonas sp and Chlorella sp were investigated. Moreover, we discussed about the history, methods and future prospects in nutrients removal by green microalgae comprehensively. This review discusses several potential strategies for tackling the environmental issue generated by agro-waste water POME with enhancement of biomass productivity which can be used as an alternative for energy production.