Microalgae have received much attention in recent years as a feedstock for producing renewable fuels. Microalgae cultivation technology is one of the main factors restricting biomass production as well as energy fuel production and bioremediation. There are four types of cultivation conditions for microalgae: photoautotrophic, heterotrophic, mixotrophic and photoheterotrophic cultivation. Though photoautotrophic and heterotrophic cultivation are two common growth modes of microalgae, some microalgae can also grow better under mixotrophic condition, which may combine the advantages of autotrophic and heterotrophic and overcome the disadvantages. This review compared these growth modes of microalgae and discussed the advantages of mixotrophic mode in bioenergy production by considering the difference in growth, photosynthesis characteristic and bioenergy production. Also, the influence factors of mixotrophic cultivation and the application of mixotrophic microalgae in bioremediation are discussed, laying theoretical foundation for large scale microalgae cultivating for biomass production, bioenergy production and environmental protection. (C) 2016 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.