Advancing environmental sustainability: a comprehensive review on alleviating carbon footprint and its application in microalgal fermentation and bioremediation.

Minimizing carbon footprints has become imperative to mitigate the adverse impacts of climate change and ensure a sustainable future. The synergistic combination of minimizing carbon footprints present in soil, water, and air by implementing bioremediation technologies using bio-systems is essential. Microalgae fermentation, a subset of bioremediation, has drawn a lot of interest considering the potential over other bio-approaches to utilize carbon for bringing environmental sustainability. Diverse microalgae in the environment are microscopic, photosynthetic organisms, which exhibit numerous qualities that make them an ideal biosystem for bioremediation. This review reveals the cohesive process of an exceptional microalgae system over and above other plant-based systems requiring land for growth. It presents and analyses microalgae fermentation and bioremediation highlighting the significance and applicability of microalgae culture for bringing a sustainable environment. It also encompasses detailed insight into the selection and cultivation of felicitous microalgae, different modes of operations to optimize fermentation conditions with metabolic engineering for enhanced CO2 sequestration, nitrogen utilization, heavy metals, and dye bioremediation to produce value-added products such as antioxidants, lipids, pigments, and proteins. Economic and financial aspects of low-carbon development and long-term transition to net zero are discussed. This review is offering an innovative solution for energy, via microalgae-based biodiesel, transitioning to microalgae-based systems having improved energy efficiency due to carbon capture and storage technologies promotes afforestation and reforestation results in sustainable land management, and engaging in carbon offsetting by adopting circular economy principles are vital strategies for reducing carbon footprints and mitigating climate change. Along with emphasizing the usage of such systems for industrial and commercial purposes in the future for achieving UN-SDGs.Graphical Abstract: Minimizing carbon footprints has become imperative to mitigate the adverse impacts of climate change and ensure a sustainable future. The synergistic combination of minimizing carbon footprints present in soil, water, and air by implementing bioremediation technologies using bio-systems is essential. Microalgae fermentation, a subset of bioremediation, has drawn a lot of interest considering the potential over other bio-approaches to utilize carbon for bringing environmental sustainability. Diverse microalgae in the environment are microscopic, photosynthetic organisms, which exhibit numerous qualities that make them an ideal biosystem for bioremediation. This review reveals the cohesive process of an exceptional microalgae system over and above other plant-based systems requiring land for growth. It presents and analyses microalgae fermentation and bioremediation highlighting the significance and applicability of microalgae culture for bringing a sustainable environment. It also encompasses detailed insight into the selection and cultivation of felicitous microalgae, different modes of operations to optimize fermentation conditions with metabolic engineering for enhanced CO2 sequestration, nitrogen utilization, heavy metals, and dye bioremediation to produce value-added products such as antioxidants, lipids, pigments, and proteins. Economic and financial aspects of low-carbon development and long-term transition to net zero are discussed. This review is offering an innovative solution for energy, via microalgae-based biodiesel, transitioning to microalgae-based systems having improved energy efficiency due to carbon capture and storage technologies promotes afforestation and reforestation results in sustainable land management, and engaging in carbon offsetting by adopting circular economy principles are vital strategies for reducing carbon footprints and mitigating climate change. Along with emphasizing the usage of such systems for industrial and commercial purposes in the future for achieving UN-SDGs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Environment, Development & Sustainability is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)