Biodiesel is one of the best promising candidates in response to the energy crisis, since it has the capability to minimize most of the environmental problems. Microalgae, as the feedstock of third-generation biodiesel, are considered as one of the most sustainable resources. However, microalgae production for biodiesel feedstock on a large scale is still limited, because of the influences of lipid contents, biomass productivities, lipid extraction technologies, the water used in microalgae cultivation and processes of biomass harvesting. This paper firstly reviews the recent advances in microalgae cultivation and growth processes. Subsequently, current microalgae harvesting technologies are summarized and flocculation mechanisms are analyzed, while the characteristics that the ideal harvesting methods should have are summarized. This review also summarizes the environmental pollution control performances and the key challenges in future. The key suggestions and conclusions in the paper can offer a promising roadmap for the cost-effective biodiesel production.

中文翻译：

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有关用于生物柴油生产的微藻的培养和收获的全面综述：环境污染控制和未来方向。

生物柴油是应对能源危机的最有前途的候选者之一，因为它具有最大程度地减少大多数环境问题的能力。微藻作为第三代生物柴油的原料，被认为是最可持续的资源之一。然而，由于脂质含量，生物量生产率，脂质提取技术，用于微藻培养的水和生物质收获过程的影响，用于生物柴油原料的微藻的大规模生产仍然受到限制。本文首先回顾了微藻培养和生长过程的最新进展。随后，总结了当前的微藻收获技术，分析了絮凝机理，并总结了理想的收获方法应具备的特点。这篇综述还总结了环境污染控制的性能以及未来的主要挑战。本文中的关键建议和结论可以为具有成本效益的生物柴油生产提供有希望的路线图。