title: Hybrid life-cycle assessment of algal biofuel production.
abstract: The objective of this work is to establish whether algal bio-crude production is environmentally, economically and socially sustainable. To this end, an economic multi-regional input-output model of Australia was complemented with engineering process data on algal bio-crude production. This model was used to undertake hybrid life-cycle assessment for measuring the direct, as well as indirect impacts of producing bio-crude. Overall, the supply chain of bio-crude is more sustainable than that of conventional crude oil. The results indicate that producing 1 million tonnes of bio-crude will generate almost 13,000 new jobs and 4 billion dollars' worth of economic stimulus. Furthermore, bio-crude production will offer carbon sequestration opportunities as the production process is net carbon-negative.
authors.affiliation: ISA, School of Physics A28, The University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia. Electronic address: amal9110@uni.sydney.edu.au.
authors.forename: Arunima
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Malik
authors.affiliation: ISA, School of Physics A28, The University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia.
authors.forename: Manfred
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lenzen
authors.affiliation: Plant Functional Biology and Climate Change Cluster, University of Technology Sydney, NSW 2007, Australia.
authors.forename: Peter J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Ralph
authors.affiliation: Plant Functional Biology and Climate Change Cluster, University of Technology Sydney, NSW 2007, Australia.
authors.forename: Bojan
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Tamburic
mesh_terms: D001315:Australia; D056804:Biofuels / Q000191:economics; D001709:Biotechnology / Q000191:economics / Q000379:methods*; D003246:Conservation of Energy Resources; D017752:Greenhouse Effect; D007221:Industry; D058086:Microalgae / Q000378:metabolism*; D010578:Petroleum / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D056804:Biofuels; D010578:Petroleum
keywords: Algal biofuel; Input–output analysis; Life-cycle assessment; Microalgae; Sustainability