Sustainability and economic evaluation of microalgae grown in brewery wastewater.
This article evaluates the sustainability and economic potential of microalgae grown in brewery wastewater for biodiesel and biomass production. Three sustainability and two economic indicators were considered in the evaluation within a life cycle perspective. For the production system the most efficient process units were selected. Results show that harvesting and oil separation are the main process bottlenecks. Microalgae with higher lipid content and productivity are desirable for biodiesel production, although comparable to other biofuel's feedstock concerning sustainability. However, improvements are still needed to reach the performance level of fossil diesel. Profitability reaches a limit for larger cultivation areas, being higher when extracted biomass is sold together with microalgae oil, in which case the influence of lipid content and areal productivity is smaller. The values of oil and/or biomass prices calculated to ensure that the process is economically sound are still very high compared with other fuel options, especially biodiesel.
Laboratory for Process Engineering, Environment, Biotechnology and Energy (LEPABE), Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto (FEUP), R. Dr. Roberto Frias S/N, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal. Electronic address: tmata@fe.up.pt.
Teresa M
TM
Mata
Laboratory for Process Engineering, Environment, Biotechnology and Energy (LEPABE), Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto (FEUP), R. Dr. Roberto Frias S/N, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal.
Adélio M
AM
Mendes
Laboratory for Process Engineering, Environment, Biotechnology and Energy (LEPABE), Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto (FEUP), R. Dr. Roberto Frias S/N, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal; Department of Chemical Engineering, School of Engineering (ISEP), Polytechnic Institute of Porto (IPP), R. Dr. António Bernardino de Almeida S/N, 4200-072 Porto, Portugal.
Nídia S
NS
Caetano
Department of Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Engineering and Technology (FCNET), Oporto Lusophone University, R. Dr. Augusto Rosa, 24, 4000-098 Porto, Portugal.
António A
AA
Martins
D056804:Biofuels / Q000191:economics / Q000382:microbiology; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources / Q000191:economics*; D005740:Gases / Q000032:analysis; D017752:Greenhouse Effect; D007220:Industrial Waste; D058086:Microalgae / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000378:metabolism; D013816:Thermodynamics; D062065:Wastewater / Q000382:microbiology*
D056804:Biofuels; D005740:Gases; D007220:Industrial Waste; D062065:Wastewater
Biodiesel; Brewery wastewater; Economic indicators; Microalgae; Sustainability indicators