Lipid extraction is one of the major bottlenecks in the
biodiesel-from-microalgae production chain. According to a
relevant report, total energy inputs were calculated as 13% for
biomass production, 85% for lipid extraction, and 2% for
transesterification.5 In conventional extraction methods, microalgae
generally require dewatering before extracting lipids since
residual water in wet microalgal biomass hinders mass transfer
of lipids from the cells, resulting in a decrease in the efficiency
of lipid extraction. Lardon et al.6 and Patil et al.7 reported that
drying accounted for up to 84.9% of the total energy inputs for
the lipid extraction process. The high energy cost associated
with drying makes the use of microalgae as a biodiesel source
unfeasible.