Currently the production of liquid biofuels relies on plant biomass, which in turn depends on the photosynthetic conversion of light and CO2 into chemical energy. As a consequence, the process is renewable on a far shorter time-scale than its fossil counterpart, thus rendering a potential to reduce the environmental impact of the transportation sector. However, the global economy is not intensively pursuing this route, as current generation biofuel production does not meet two key criteria: (1) economic feasibility and (2) long-term sustainability. Herein, we argue that microalgal systems are valuable alternatives to consider, although it is currently technologically immature and therefore not possible to reach criterion 1, nor evaluate criterion 2. In this review we discuss the major limiting factors for this technology and highlight how further research efforts could be deployed to concretize an industrial reality.

中文翻译：

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从化石燃料向生物燃料过渡的道路上的经济可行性和长期可持续性标准。

当前，液态生物燃料的生产依赖于植物生物质，而植物生物质又取决于光和CO2的光合作用转化为化学能。结果，该过程的可再生时间比化石过程的时间短得多，因此有潜力减少运输部门对环境的影响。但是，由于当前一代生物燃料的生产不符合两个关键标准，因此全球经济并未积极追求这一路线：（1）经济可行性和（2）长期可持续性。本文中，我们认为微藻类系统是值得考虑的有价值的替代方案，尽管目前在技术上还不成熟，因此无法达到标准1或评估标准2。