Open AccessLife cycle assessment of biomass production in microalgae compact photobioreactors
Author(s) -
Silva Angela G.,
Carter Richard,
Merss Felipe L. M.,
Corrêa Diego O.,
Vargas Jose V. C.,
Mariano André B.,
Ordonez Juan C.,
Scherer Marisa D.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
gcb bioenergy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.378
H-Index - 63
eISSN - 1757-1707
pISSN - 1757-1693
DOI - 10.1111/gcbb.12120
Subject(s) - photobioreactor , life cycle assessment , biomass (ecology) , raceway , environmental science , biofuel , raw material , renewable energy , pulp and paper industry , fossil fuel , production (economics) , bioenergy , environmental engineering , waste management , engineering , biology , ecology , structural engineering , finite element method , economics , macroeconomics
This paper presents a life cycle assessment ( LCA ) of industrial scale microalgae biomass production in compact photobioreactor ( PBR ) systems (2 × 5 × 8 m) for supplying biofuel/electricity generation processes and synthesis of new materials. Other objectives are as follows: (i) to compare the impact of various raw materials, substances, and services; and (ii) to evaluate environment‐relevant aspects of the proposed system as compared to microalgae raceway ponds. The life cycle inventory assessment shows that (i) only atmospheric CO 2 is used for PBR microalgae cultivation, whereas in raceway ponds, injection of CO 2 from fossil origin is largely required to allow for microalgae growth; and (ii) the PBR daily production rate of dry biomass is currently at 1.5 kg m −3 day −1 for each PBR , which is 12.82 times larger than the reported average 0.117 kg m −3 day −1 raceway ponds production. It is found that in general the association of the effects of the production of steel, PVC , and the packaging contribute to more than 85% of the total impact in each analyzed category. Therefore, to achieve PBR biomass production impact reduction and sustainability, PVC and steel utilization need to be minimized, as well as packaging materials. Based on the PBR LCA results, that is, due to no CO 2 injection from fossil origin and low area occupation, it is expected that high density production of truly renewable microalgae biomass could be obtained from PBR systems.