Life Cycle Assessment and Techno-Economic Analysis of Algal Biofuel Production

Mu, Dongyan; Xin, Chunhua

doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-817536-1.00018-7

Cited by 31 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 48 publications

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“…At present, all liquid biofuels are derived from food crops, even though global basic nutritional needs are not being met even today. Some researchers have argued that microalgal energy production can overcome this problem, since microalgae can utilize land not suited for agriculture and can use brackish water or even wastewater in need of purification [18,19]. Davis et al [20] have even discussed Saudi Arabia as a suitable location for large-scale microalgae cultivation.…”

Section: Microalgae For Fuelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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New Energy Technologies: Microalgae, Photolysis and Airborne Wind Turbines

Moriarty

Honnery

2021

Sci

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Because of the near-term risk of extreme weather events and other adverse consequences from climate change and, at least in the longer term, global fossil fuel depletion, there is worldwide interest in shifting to noncarbon energy sources, especially renewable energy (RE). Because of possible limitations on conventional renewable energy sources, researchers have looked for ways of overcoming these shortcomings by introducing radically new energy technologies. The largest RE source today is bioenergy, while solar energy and wind energy are regarded as having by far the largest technical potential. This paper reviews the literature on proposed new technologies for each of these three RE sources: microalgae for bioenergy, photolysis and airborne wind turbines. The main finding is that their proponents have often underestimated the difficulties they face and the time taken for their introduction on a very large scale.

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Section: Microalgae For Fuelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A number of reviews of microalgae for fuels are available, including several published in 2020 (e.g., [18,[25][26][27]). However, none of them cover all four of the criteria for evaluating novel RE sources listed in Section 2.…”

Section: Microalgae For Fuelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

New Energy Technologies: Microalgae, Photolysis and Airborne Wind Turbines

Moriarty

Honnery

2021

Sci

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“…Chloroplast biotechnology has the potential to help alleviate the main challenges of this century by lowering renewable biofuels cost, increasing food production, and increasing productivity per plant. Currently, the cost of renewable energy through biofuels is not competitive against fossil fuels ( Medipally et al, 2015 ; Mu et al, 2020 ; Lo et al, 2021 ; Scown et al, 2021 ). The current goal of the Bioenergy Technologies Office Advanced Algal Systems program within the Department of Energy is $2.5–3 gallon of gas equivalent for renewable algal biofuels by 2030, while current gasoline prices remain relatively low at $2.18 per gallon ( BETO Publications, 2020 ; Fuel Prices, n.d. ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nanotechnology Approaches for Chloroplast Biotechnology Advancements

Newkirk

Allende²,

Jinkerson³

et al. 2021

Front. Plant Sci.

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Photosynthetic organisms are sources of sustainable foods, renewable biofuels, novel biopharmaceuticals, and next-generation biomaterials essential for modern society. Efforts to improve the yield, variety, and sustainability of products dependent on chloroplasts are limited by the need for biotechnological approaches for high-throughput chloroplast transformation, monitoring chloroplast function, and engineering photosynthesis across diverse plant species. The use of nanotechnology has emerged as a novel approach to overcome some of these limitations. Nanotechnology is enabling advances in the targeted delivery of chemicals and genetic elements to chloroplasts, nanosensors for chloroplast biomolecules, and nanotherapeutics for enhancing chloroplast performance. Nanotechnology-mediated delivery of DNA to the chloroplast has the potential to revolutionize chloroplast synthetic biology by allowing transgenes, or even synthesized DNA libraries, to be delivered to a variety of photosynthetic species. Crop yield improvements could be enabled by nanomaterials that enhance photosynthesis, increase tolerance to stresses, and act as nanosensors for biomolecules associated with chloroplast function. Engineering isolated chloroplasts through nanotechnology and synthetic biology approaches are leading to a new generation of plant-based biomaterials able to self-repair using abundant CO2 and water sources and are powered by renewable sunlight energy. Current knowledge gaps of nanotechnology-enabled approaches for chloroplast biotechnology include precise mechanisms for entry into plant cells and organelles, limited understanding about nanoparticle-based chloroplast transformations, and the translation of lab-based nanotechnology tools to the agricultural field with crop plants. Future research in chloroplast biotechnology mediated by the merging of synthetic biology and nanotechnology approaches can yield tools for precise control and monitoring of chloroplast function in vivo and ex vivo across diverse plant species, allowing increased plant productivity and turning plants into widely available sustainable technologies.

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“…Typically included in the discussion of algal systems is the economic viability of algal-based biorefineries. While such economic studies have highlighted the challenges facing large-scale algal culture, they have broadly viewed microalgae as a feedstock for the production of biofuels [17][18][19] rather than as a means to mitigate carbon emissions from electricity generation, or as a way to produce bio-based chemicals or animal feed. The feasibility of these algae-based products is highly dependent on the economics of the biomass production process.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Indeed, an emerging trend in the algae industry is the adoption of an agronomic approach to create potentially more sustainable crops (from a resource perspective) compared with traditional crops [20]. Moreover, the majority of published studies focus on the use of open raceway ponds (ORPs) for algae cultivation, significantly fewer studies having been reported for photobioreactors (PBRs) [17,21].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Algae-Based Beneficial Re-use of Carbon Emissions Using a Novel Photobioreactor: a Techno-Economic and Life Cycle Analysis

et al. 2020

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Despite the many advantages of microalgae, the feasibility of large-scale cultivation requires significant amounts of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) to enable high growth rates. A synergistic union typically proposed for the supply of CO 2 is the coupling of algal cultivation with emissions from power plants. This study investigates the sustainability of a novel microalgae platform coupled with coal-based flue gas. The proposed system consists of a novel photobioreactor (PBR) for the production of biomass followed by a two-stage dewatering process. A systems model, which quantifies the CO 2 and energy consumption of the proposed system, was developed, and the minimum biomass selling price (MBSP) was determined by a techno-economic analysis (TEA). TEA results indicate that a facility with the capacity to capture 30% of the emissions from a 1-MW power plant requires a biomass production of 1280 metric ton per year, which when scaled to a nth of kind facility can produce biomass at a MBSP of $2322 per ton. The environmental impact of the proposed facility was determined by a life cycle assessment methodology, and results indicate a carbon capture potential of 1.16 × 10 4 metric tons of CO 2 equivalent. In addition, an energy analysis indicates a desirable net energy ratio of 0.1, which is lower than conventional PBRs. Discussion focuses on the requirements to reduce biomass production cost, including research investment areas for increasing productivity while decreasing energy requirements.

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Life Cycle Assessment and Techno-Economic Analysis of Algal Biofuel Production

Cited by 31 publications

References 48 publications

New Energy Technologies: Microalgae, Photolysis and Airborne Wind Turbines

New Energy Technologies: Microalgae, Photolysis and Airborne Wind Turbines

Nanotechnology Approaches for Chloroplast Biotechnology Advancements

Algae-Based Beneficial Re-use of Carbon Emissions Using a Novel Photobioreactor: a Techno-Economic and Life Cycle Analysis

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