The idea of using microalgae as a source of

biodiesel is not new, but it is now being taken

seriously because of the rising price of petroleum
and, more significantly, the emerging concern about
global warming that is associated with burning of
fossil fuels. The utilization of microalgae for
biofuels production offers the following advantages
over higher plants: (1) microalgae synthesize and
accumulate large quantities of neutral lipids (2050
% dry weight of biomass) and grow at high rates; (2)
microalgae are capable of all year round production,
therefore, oil yield per area of microalgae cultures
could greatly exceed the yield of best oilseed crops;
(3) microalgae need less water than terrestrial crops
therefore reducing the load on freshwater sources;
(4) microalgae cultivation does not require herbicides
or pesticides application; (5) microalgae sequester
CO
2
from flue gases emitted from fossil
fuel-fired power plants and other sources, thereby
reducing emissions of a major greenhouse gas (1 kg
of dry algal biomass utilise about 1.83 kg of CO
2
);
(6) microalgae could be applied as bioremediation
agent of wastewater by removal of NH
4
+
, NO
3
-
,
PO
4
3-
from a variety of wastewater sources (e.g.
agricultural run-off, concentrated animal feed
operations, and industrial and municipal
wastewaters); (7) combined with their ability to grow
under harsher conditions and their reduced needs for
nutrients, microalgae can be cultivated in
saline/brackish water/coastal seawater on non-arable
land, and do not compete for resources with
conventional agriculture; (8) depending on the
microalgae species, other compounds may also be
extracted, with valuable applications in different
industrial sectors, including a large range of fine
chemicals and bulk products, such as polyunsaturated
fatty acids, natural dyes, polysaccharides, pigments,
antioxidants, high -value bioactive compounds, and
proteins [4].One of the characters that form the basis
in selecting microalgae as biodiesel feedstock
because microalgae can growth in extreme
environments [5]There are several types of
microalgae that have been known to have a high lipid
content, such as Botryococcusbraunii, Chlorella sp,
Schizochitriumsp, Nannochloropsissp. However,
Indonesian microalgae has not beenexplored and
studied intensive lyas feedstock biodiesel makers,
Table 1. Carbohydrate and Protein Percentage in 10
species of microalgae in Indonesia

Microalgae have also been identified as
attractive sources of biodiesel because different
species can produce a variety of fuel products.
Various microalgal species have the ability to
produce large quantities of lipid while sequestering
CO
2
, particularly neutral lipids in the form of
triacylglycerol (TAG), which can be converted to
fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs), the main
components of biodiesel (Hossain et al. 2008),
through trans-esterification, or refined into other fuel
constituents (Pienkos and Darzins 2009). Total lipids
and other biomass constituents can be converted into
crude oil alternatives through thermo-chemical
processes such as hydrothermal liquefaction (Barreiro
et al. 2013). Microalgal carbohydrates can be
fermented into ethanol, and some species can
produce biohydrogen (Radakovits et al. 2010). In
addition to their diversity of products, microalgae are
attractive as fuel sources because many species grow
relatively fast
OPTIMALIZATION OF POTENTIAL
MICROALGAE SPECIES SELECTION FOR
MICROALGAE CRUDE OIL TO SUPPORT THE
ECONOMIC FEASIBILITY OF Biodiesel
Production
Potential of Microalgae species are
Coscinodiscus sp, Skeletonema sp, Biddulphia sp,
Rhizosolenia sp, Pyrocystis sp, Nitzschia sp,
Tetracelmis chui, Nannochloropsis sp., Nitzschia
sp., Botryococcus sedeticus , Porphyridium
cruentum, Spirulina platensis




Table 2. Fatty Acid Percentage in 10 species of
microalgae

Like plants, microalgae use sunlight to produce oils
but they do so more efficiently than crop plants. Oil
productivity of many microalgae greatly exceeds the
oil productivity of the best producing oil crops. Yield
of microalgal oil is three times than coconut oil and
ten times from soybean oil. The yield microalgal-oil
reaches 700 gallon/acre compare to coconut oil of
285 gallon/acre and soybean oil of 62 gallon/acre
(Sazdanoff, 2005; Minowa et al., 1995).
Several strain microalgae are suspected the
hydrocarbon depositor, such as Botryococcus,
Chlorella, Dunaleilla, Nannochlo-ropsis and diatom
(Chisty, 2007). Our previous evaluation result
showed the Nannochloropsis contained the crude
lipid content of 42.2% base on dry biomass.
Therefore, in this study we propose to evaluate more
detail the oil production of indigenous marine green
microalgae Nannochlo-ropsis sp. which is collected
from Jepara beach, in laboratory scale. In addition,
the objectives of this studies are to obtain high
quality biodiesel production from a microalga
Nannochloropsis sp. through the technology of
transesterification and to evaluate the oil production
from Nannochloropsis sp. until 5 l culture.
Hopefully, we could apply the model for field algal
farm with high quality of microalgal-oil from
Nannochloropsis sp., effective transesterification
technique suitable for excreting the oil from
Nannochloropsis sp. and understand the optimum
cultivation condition for biodiesel production from
microalgal Nannochloropsis sp.