Innovative nanobubble technology: Fuelling the future of bioenergy and carbon mitigation
Preeti Pal, Arata Kioka, Sandhya Maurya, Ruey‐an Doong
Abstract
The world is affected by the increasing impact of climate change due to high levels of carbon di oxide (CO 2 ) in the atmosphere. Several initiatives are taken by industries, academicians, and government bodies to deal with this problem and to promote CO 2 sequestration and the reduction of consumption of fossil fuels. One of the primary solutions is the production of synthetic fuels independent of non-renewable sources. While current natural and human-induced CO 2 sinks have been beneficial, the scientific community is moving to algal production for CO 2 sequestration, which may help achieve our targets of carbon sequestration as well as biofuel production. Introducing nanobubbles to the aqueous medium is one of the technologies which more efficiently dissolve gases in aqueous medium. This work emphasizes the significance of nanobubble technology (NBT) for improving the yield of biomass by utilizing the flue gases in the form of nanobubble (<200 nm). NBT helps in dissolving high amount of CO 2 at much lower operating pressure and 10 times or even shorter time in comparison to spargers. Hence, such methods offer the opportunity to produce valuable products at low cost that can support a sustainable circular bioeconomy. This study proposes the conceptual model for CO 2 bio-sequestration, the production of biobased products, and wastewater treatment integrating with NBT to maximize the benefits with a sustainable approach. The implementation of this biorefinery model could be a significant step towards surmounting the challenges of current sequestration methods and restoring the carbon balance, which would foster a sustainable future. • Algae and plants are most efficient natural resources for carbon sequestration and biofuel industry. • CO 2 -nanobubbles provide new directions in gas dissolution, carbon utilization, capture and storage. • Nanobubble gas dissolution can dissolve CO 2 much faster than microbubbles system. • Dispensing nanobubble CO 2 to the algae can improve the photosynthetic activity by ∼50 %. • Nanobubble generation systems are cost effective, environment friendly and saves energy.