• Energy Research

With the increase in the world's population, demand for food and other products is continuously rising. This has put a lot of pressure on the agricultural sector. To fulfill these demands, the utilization of chemical fertilizers and pesticides has also increased. Consequently, to overcome the adverse effects of agrochemicals on our environment and health, there has been a shift towards organic fertilizers or other substitutes, which are ecofriendly and help to maintain a sustainable environment. Microalgae have a very high potential of carbon dioxide (CO2) capturing and thus, help in mitigating the greenhouse effect. It is the most productive biological system for generating biomass. The high growth rate and higher photosynthetic efficiency of the algal species compared to the terrestrial plants make them a wonderful alternative towards a sustainable environment. Moreover, they could be cultivated in photobioreactors or open ponds, which in turn reduce the demand for arable land. Biochar derived from algae is high in nutrients and exhibits the property of ion exchange. Therefore, it can be utilized for sustainable agriculture by partial substituting the chemical fertilizers that degrade the fertility of the soil in the long run. This review provides a detailed insight on the properties of algal biochar as a potential fertilizer for sustainable agriculture. Application of algal biochar in bio-refinery and its economic aspects, challenges faced and future perspective are also discusses in this study.

The study presents the spatial and temporal variation of fine ambient aerosols (PM2.5) over National Capital Region (NCR), India, during January to June 2016. The investigation includes three sampling sites, one in Delhi and two in the adjoining states of Delhi (Uttar Pradesh and Haryana), across NCR, India. The average PM2.5 concentration was highest for Delhi (128.5 ± 51.5 μg m-3) and lowest for Mahendragarh, Haryana (74.5 ± 28.7 μg m-3), during the study period. Seasonal variation was similar for all the sites with highest concentration during winter and lowest in summer. PM2.5 samples were analysed for organic compounds using gas chromatograph (GC). The concentration of three organic compound classes, n-alkanes (C11-C35), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and phthalates, present in PM2.5 samples has been reported. Diagnostic ratios for n-alkanes demonstrated that biogenic emissions were dominant over Mahendragarh while major contributions were observed from petrogenic emissions over Delhi and Modinagar, Uttar Pradesh. Molecular diagnostic ratios were calculated to distinguish between different sources of PAHs, which revealed that the fossil fuel combustion (diesel and gasoline emissions), traffic emissions, and biomass burning are the major source contributors. Health risk associated with human exposure of phthalates and PAHs was also assessed as daily intake (DI, ng kg-1 day-1) and lung cancer risk, respectively. Backward trajectory analysis explained the local, regional, and long-range transport routes of PM2.5 for all sites. Principal component analysis (PCA) results summarized that the vehicular emissions, biomass burning, and plastic burning were the major sources of the PAHs and phthalates over the sampling sites.

Abstract Hydrogen production by Nostoc linckia was studied using both free and alginate immobilized biomass of the cyanobacterium in separate lab-scale photobioreactors (PBRs). Hydrogen production rates improved significantly when immobilized cyanobacterial biomass was used in PBR and the production continued up to 25 days by maintaining required anoxic conditions and carbohydrate supplement. Average hydrogen production rate over 25 days was 132 μmolH 2 /h/mg Chl a. The biological waste from the PBRs was utilized for sequestration of two toxic heavy metals (chromium and cobalt) and carcinogenic dyes (Reactive Red 198 and Crystal Violet) from aqueous solutions in packed-bed column. From the PBR containing free N. linckia cells, the spent biomass was collected after 7 d, dried and immobilized in alginate matrix, and used as a biosorbent for optimizing bed height and flow rate of the column. Breakthrough capacity of the packed-bed column was determined and breakthrough curves were analyzed using BDST model. Three PBRs containing immobilized cyanobacterial biomass were run for 5, 15 and 25 days, and the biological waste collected at the end of the operation was used for biosorption studies under optimized conditions (bed height, 25 cm; flow rate, 3 mL/min). Biosorption efficiency of the waste biomass was found to be influenced by the operation time of the hydrogen photobioreactor.

The study reports production of hydrogen in photobioreactors with free (PBR(Fr)) and immobilized (PBR(Imm)) Nostoc biomass at enhanced and sustained rates. Before running the photobioreactors, effects of different immobilization matrices and cyanobacterial dose on hydrogen production were studied in batch mode. As hydrogen production in the PBRs declined spent biomass from the photobioreactors were collected and utilized further for column biosorption of highly toxic dyes (Reactive Red 198+Crystal Violet) and metals (hexavalent chromium and bivalent cobalt) from simulated textile wastewater. Breakthrough time, adsorption capacity and exhaustion time of the biosorption column were studied. The photobioreactors with free and immobilized cyanobacterium produced hydrogen at average rates of 101 and 151 μmol/h/mg Chl a, respectively over 15 days, while the adsorption capacity of the spent biomass was up to 1.4 and 0.23 mg/g for metals and 15 and 1.75 mg/g for the dyes, respectively in continuous column mode.