Microalgae biofuel is expected to be an ideal alternative to fossil fuels to mitigate the effects of climate change and the energy crisis. However, the production process of microalgae biofuel is sometimes considered to be energy intensive and uneconomical, which limits its large-scale production. Several cultivation systems are used to acquire feedstock for microalgal biofuels production. The energy consumption of different cultivation systems is different, and the concentration of culture medium (microalgae cells contained in the unit volume of medium) and other properties of microalgae vary with the culture methods, which affects the energy consumption of subsequent processes. This review compared the energy consumption of different cultivation systems, including the open pond system, four types of closed photobioreactor (PBR) systems, and the hybrid cultivation system, and the energy consumption of the subsequent harvesting process. The biomass concentration and areal biomass production of every cultivation system were also analyzed. The results show that the flat-panel PBRs and the column PBRs are both preferred for large-scale biofuel production for high biomass productivity.

To better understand the sensitivity of berry size and grapevine photosynthesis to water stress, and determine the soil water potential (ψ) threshold for scheduling irrigation during the maturation stage, we simultaneously measured berry size with photographs, leaf net photosynthesis with a portable meter, and ψ with tensiometers during the drying cycles for grapevines (Vitis vinifera L.). Our results showed that in berry development stage III (maturation), photosynthesis was more sensitive to water stress than berry size. When ψ decreased beyond −13.2 ± 0.82 kPa, photosynthesis, stomatal conductance, transpiration, and extrinsic (A_N/E) and intrinsic (A_N/g_s) water use efficiency (WUE) decreased rapidly and did not recover thereafter. In contrast, the berry size remained close to unaffected by the decreasing ψ until it reached a value of −16.2 ± 0.77 kPa and, thereafter, the berry shrank significantly. In conclusion, we suggest that during the maturation stage of grapevines, for the potted mixture used in our experiments, irrigation should be triggered when the ψ reaches a value of −13.2 ± 0.82 kPa. Further, ψ should be kept lower than −6.9 ± 0.15 kPa after irrigation, because the highest values of intrinsic WUE (A_N/g_s) occurred when ψ decreased from −6.9 ± 0.15 to −14.6 ± 0.7 kPa. In arid areas, the threshold ψ should be considered as −16.2 ± 0.77 kPa during maturation to achieve high-efficiency use of water resources and sustainable production of grapevines.