In the present study biodiesel was produced by various fungal species isolated from Egypt
using sugarcane molasses as substrate. In the first stage 6 oleaginous fungi, namely,
Alternaria alternata, Cladosporium cladosporioides, Epicoccum nigrum, Fusarium oxysporum,
Aspergillus parasiticus and Emericella nidulans var. lata were used for lipid production. Subsequent
to fungal cultivation on sugarcane molasses the cultures were filtered and biodiesel
was prepared by direct esterification of dry fungal biomass. Methyl esters of palmitic,
stearic, linoleic and elaidic represented the major components while palmitoleic represented
a minor component of biodiesel produced from tested oleaginous fungi. In the
second stage, the spent medium of fungal culture was used as the fermentation medium
for hydrogen production by Clostridium acetobutylicum ATCC 824. The maximum total H2
yield was obtained with the spent medium of E. nigrum and A. alternata. The results presented
in this study suggest a possibility of interlinking the biodiesel production technology
by fungi with hydrogen production by C. acetobutylicum ATCC 824 to exploit the residual
sugars in the spent media and therefore increase the economic feasibility of the biofuel
production from molasses.