Algae is a well-known organism that its characteristic is prominent for biofuel production and wastewater remediation. This critical review aims to present the applicability of algae with in-depth discussion regarding three key aspects: (i) characterization of algae for its applications; (ii) the technical approaches and their strengths and drawbacks; and (iii) future perspectives of algae-based technologies. The process optimization and combinations with other chemical and biological processes have generated efficiency, in which bio-oil yield is up to 41.1%. Through life cycle assessment, algae bio-energy achieves high energy return than fossil fuel. Thus, the algae-based technologies can reasonably be considered as green approaches. Although selling price of algae bio-oil is still high (about $2 L⁻¹) compared to fossil fuel’s price of $1 L⁻¹, it is expected that the algae bio-oil’s price will become acceptable in the next coming decades and potentially dominate 75% of the market.

藻类是一种众所周知的生物，其特征在生物燃料生产和废水修复中非常突出。这次重要的审查旨在通过三个主要方面的深入讨论来介绍藻类的适用性：（i）藻类对其应用的表征；（ii）技术方法及其优点和缺点；（iii）藻类技术的未来前景。工艺优化以及与其他化学和生物工艺的结合产生了效率，其中生物油的产率高达41.1％。通过生命周期评估，藻类生物能源比化石燃料能获得更高的能源回报。因此，基于藻类的技术可以合理地视为绿色方法。尽管藻类生物油的售价仍然很高（约$ 2 L ^-1）与化石燃料的$ 1 L ^-1的价格相比，预计藻类生物油的价格将在未来几十年内被接受，并有可能占据市场的75％。