Life Cycle Energy and Carbon Footprints of Microalgal Biodiesel Production in Western Australia: A Comparison of Byproducts Utilization Strategies
This study compares the performances of anaerobic digestion and hydrothermal liquefaction as byproducts (defatted microalgae and glycerol) utilization strategies to offset overall life cycle energy and carbon footprints of microalgal biodiesel production in Western Australian (WA). Utilization of by...
| Main Authors: | , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Journal Article |
| Published: |
American Chemical Society
2013
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/9809 |
| _version_ | 1848746057101475840 |
|---|---|
| author | Gao, Xiangpeng Yu, Yun Wu, Hongwei |
| author_facet | Gao, Xiangpeng Yu, Yun Wu, Hongwei |
| author_sort | Gao, Xiangpeng |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | This study compares the performances of anaerobic digestion and hydrothermal liquefaction as byproducts (defatted microalgae and glycerol) utilization strategies to offset overall life cycle energy and carbon footprints of microalgal biodiesel production in Western Australian (WA). Utilization of byproducts via anaerobic digestion or hydrothermal liquefaction enables the production of electricity and process heat, as well as the recovery of inherent nutrients. As a result, the anaerobic digestion route and hydrothermal liquefaction route substantially reduce life cycle energy inputs for producing 1 MJ biodiesel from 4.3 MJ (without byproducts utilization) to 1.3 and 0.7 MJ, yielding carbon footprints of ~80 and ~33 g CO2-eq/MJ biodiesel, respectively. The results indicate that hydrothermal liquefaction, which shows better life cycle performance and requires smaller reactor footprint than anaerobic digestion, can be another potential strategy to recover energy embedded in defatted microalgae. It is also evident that while vast coastal areas are available in WA for marine microalgaecultivation, further technological advances are required to realize a truly sustainable biodiesel production from microalgae. Sensitivity analyses suggest that key R&D areas are improvement of microalgae biological properties (e.g., growth rate and lipid content) and innovations in engineering designs (e.g., culture circulation velocity, methane yield during anaerobic digestion, and bio-oil yield during hydrothermal liquefaction). |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T06:27:12Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-9809 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T06:27:12Z |
| publishDate | 2013 |
| publisher | American Chemical Society |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-98092017-09-13T14:53:17Z Life Cycle Energy and Carbon Footprints of Microalgal Biodiesel Production in Western Australia: A Comparison of Byproducts Utilization Strategies Gao, Xiangpeng Yu, Yun Wu, Hongwei Hydrothermal liquefaction Microalgae Glycerol Life cycle analysis Biodiesel Biochar Bioslurry Bio-oil Anaerobic digestion Biomass This study compares the performances of anaerobic digestion and hydrothermal liquefaction as byproducts (defatted microalgae and glycerol) utilization strategies to offset overall life cycle energy and carbon footprints of microalgal biodiesel production in Western Australian (WA). Utilization of byproducts via anaerobic digestion or hydrothermal liquefaction enables the production of electricity and process heat, as well as the recovery of inherent nutrients. As a result, the anaerobic digestion route and hydrothermal liquefaction route substantially reduce life cycle energy inputs for producing 1 MJ biodiesel from 4.3 MJ (without byproducts utilization) to 1.3 and 0.7 MJ, yielding carbon footprints of ~80 and ~33 g CO2-eq/MJ biodiesel, respectively. The results indicate that hydrothermal liquefaction, which shows better life cycle performance and requires smaller reactor footprint than anaerobic digestion, can be another potential strategy to recover energy embedded in defatted microalgae. It is also evident that while vast coastal areas are available in WA for marine microalgaecultivation, further technological advances are required to realize a truly sustainable biodiesel production from microalgae. Sensitivity analyses suggest that key R&D areas are improvement of microalgae biological properties (e.g., growth rate and lipid content) and innovations in engineering designs (e.g., culture circulation velocity, methane yield during anaerobic digestion, and bio-oil yield during hydrothermal liquefaction). 2013 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/9809 10.1021/sc4002406 American Chemical Society restricted |
| spellingShingle | Hydrothermal liquefaction Microalgae Glycerol Life cycle analysis Biodiesel Biochar Bioslurry Bio-oil Anaerobic digestion Biomass Gao, Xiangpeng Yu, Yun Wu, Hongwei Life Cycle Energy and Carbon Footprints of Microalgal Biodiesel Production in Western Australia: A Comparison of Byproducts Utilization Strategies |
| title | Life Cycle Energy and Carbon Footprints of Microalgal Biodiesel Production in Western Australia: A Comparison of Byproducts Utilization Strategies |
| title_full | Life Cycle Energy and Carbon Footprints of Microalgal Biodiesel Production in Western Australia: A Comparison of Byproducts Utilization Strategies |
| title_fullStr | Life Cycle Energy and Carbon Footprints of Microalgal Biodiesel Production in Western Australia: A Comparison of Byproducts Utilization Strategies |
| title_full_unstemmed | Life Cycle Energy and Carbon Footprints of Microalgal Biodiesel Production in Western Australia: A Comparison of Byproducts Utilization Strategies |
| title_short | Life Cycle Energy and Carbon Footprints of Microalgal Biodiesel Production in Western Australia: A Comparison of Byproducts Utilization Strategies |
| title_sort | life cycle energy and carbon footprints of microalgal biodiesel production in western australia: a comparison of byproducts utilization strategies |
| topic | Hydrothermal liquefaction Microalgae Glycerol Life cycle analysis Biodiesel Biochar Bioslurry Bio-oil Anaerobic digestion Biomass |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/9809 |