title: An assessment of the economic aspects of CO2 sequestration in a route for biodiesel production from microalgae.
abstract: Photosynthetic microalgae are unicellular organisms that, during their cultivation, can fix carbon dioxide efficiently from various sources, including the air and exhaust gases from industrial processes. This feature can lead to economic benefits in the production process of biodiesel by way of the clean development mechanism, for which carbon credits for environmental benefits may be granted and which will contribute towards reducing costs in the production process. This study seeks to quantify the contribution of carbon credits in the operating costs of a route for biodiesel production from microalgae, as proposed by Davis et al. [Techno-economic analysis ofautotrophic microalgae for fuel production. Appl Energy. 2011; 88:3524-3531]. The results showed a reduction in annual operating costs by around 5%. This figure may be conservative, since the production process considered can be further improved to reduce operating costs and thus increase the contribution margin of carbon credits, which will reduce costs. On the other hand, the price of carbon may also rise in the future, thereby increasing its contribution towards a reduction in operating costs.
authors.affiliation: Centro de Engenharia, Modelagem e Ciências Sociais Aplicadas, Universidade Federal do ABC, Rua Santa Adélia, 166-Bairro Bangu, CEP 09.210-170, Santo André, SP, Brasil. fabio.rsoares@sp.senac.br
authors.forename: Fabio Rubens
authors.initials: FR
authors.lastname: Soares
authors.affiliation: Centro de Engenharia, Modelagem e Ciências Sociais Aplicadas, Universidade Federal do ABC, Rua Santa Adélia, 166-Bairro Bangu, CEP 09.210-170, Santo André, SP, Brasil.
authors.forename: Gilberto
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Martins
authors.affiliation: Centro de Ciências e Tecnologia de Materiais-Instituto de Pesquisas Energéticas e Nucleares-USP/SP e Grupo de Pesquisa em Sustentabilidade-Centro Universitário Senac, São Paulo SP, Brasil.
authors.forename: Emília Satoshi Miyamaru
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Seo
mesh_terms: D056804:Biofuels; D001709:Biotechnology / Q000191:economics / Q000379:methods; D002245:Carbon Dioxide / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D057232:Global Warming; D058086:Microalgae / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D056804:Biofuels; D002245:Carbon Dioxide