4. Using micro-organisms to produce custom lipids, for example biokerosene

For some thirty years, the use of micro-organisms such as bacteria, microalgae and yeast has been considered for lipid production. The first oil from a micro-organism (the fungus Mucor circinelloides) was marketed in 1985 and was sold for its high content of γ-linolenic acid, a polyunsaturated fatty acid (C18:3, n-6), but the process was not economically viable .

The use of micro-organisms frees us from the soil constraints associated with the use of field crops (rapeseed, sunflower). What's more, biomass production processes in confined, controlled enclosures make it possible to obtain higher-performance micro-organism...