Economic analysis of microalgae biodiesel production in a small-scale facility

Detalhes bibliográficos
Autor(a) principal: Branco-Vieira, M.
Data de Publicação: 2020
Outros Autores: Mata, T.M., Martins, A.A., Freitas, M.A.V., Caetano, Nídia
Tipo de documento: Artigo
Idioma: eng
Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.22/18531
Resumo: Industrial production and commercialization of biodiesel from microalgae have become a good alternative to conventional feedstock. Microalgae show high growth rate and carbon sequestration and can be easily cultivate in fresh and/or marine water, using non-arable soil. This study aims to analyze the technical and economic feasibility of biodiesel production from Phaeodactylum tricornutum, using an algae biomass production scaled-up scenario, considering local reality prices and available technologies. The model assumes 80,000 m3 of microalgae cultivation, in a set of bubble column photobioreactors installed on 15.247 ha of land, reaching a total of 1,811 tons of microalgae biomass and 171,705 L of biodiesel per year. The production cost estimated for microalgae biomass is 2.01 € kg−1 and for biodiesel is 0.33 € L−1. The ROI calculated for the project is 10% with a 10 years’ payback time and an EBITDA of 588,139 € year−1. Despite the project’s viability in the medium term, the cost of producing microalgae biodiesel remains high when compared to fossil fuels. Thus, unless greater technological maturity is achieved to make the process more economical, it will not be viable in the short term.
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spelling Economic analysis of microalgae biodiesel production in a small-scale facilityBubble column photobioreactorMicroalgae biodieselPhaeodactylum tricornutumTechno-economic analysisIndustrial production and commercialization of biodiesel from microalgae have become a good alternative to conventional feedstock. Microalgae show high growth rate and carbon sequestration and can be easily cultivate in fresh and/or marine water, using non-arable soil. This study aims to analyze the technical and economic feasibility of biodiesel production from Phaeodactylum tricornutum, using an algae biomass production scaled-up scenario, considering local reality prices and available technologies. The model assumes 80,000 m3 of microalgae cultivation, in a set of bubble column photobioreactors installed on 15.247 ha of land, reaching a total of 1,811 tons of microalgae biomass and 171,705 L of biodiesel per year. The production cost estimated for microalgae biomass is 2.01 € kg−1 and for biodiesel is 0.33 € L−1. The ROI calculated for the project is 10% with a 10 years’ payback time and an EBITDA of 588,139 € year−1. Despite the project’s viability in the medium term, the cost of producing microalgae biodiesel remains high when compared to fossil fuels. Thus, unless greater technological maturity is achieved to make the process more economical, it will not be viable in the short term.This work was financially supported by Base Funding – UIDB/00511/2020 of Laboratory for Process Engineering, Environment, Biotechnology and Energy – LEPABE – funded by National funds through the FCT/MCTES (PIDDAC), Portugal; Base Funding – UIDB/04730/2020 of Center for Innovation in Engineering and Industrial Technology, CIETI – funded by national funds through the FCT/MCTES (PIDDAC); project IF/01093/2014/CP1249/CT0003; project EXTRATOTECA - POCI-01-0247-FEDER-033784, funded by FEDER funds through COMPETE2020 – Programa Operacional Competitividade e Internacionalização (POCI) and by national funds (PIDDAC) through FCT/MCTES, Portugal; António Martins thank FCT (Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia), Portugal for funding through program DL 57/2016 – Norma transitória. Monique Branco-Vieira also thanks the grants: PFRH Petrobrás (Brazil) and European Commission (through Erasmus Mundus Program) postgraduate research scholarship and “Convenio de Desempeño Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación para la Bioeconomía”, from the Chilean government , for their support throughout the experimental work. The authors acknowledge Cristian Agurto and Sergio San Martín for supporting the experimental data collection at the pilot-plant in Concepción, Chile, during the Research Visiting period of Branco-Vieira in GIBMAR (Biotechnology Centre of the University of Concepción).ElsevierRepositório Científico do Instituto Politécnico do PortoBranco-Vieira, M.Mata, T.M.Martins, A.A.Freitas, M.A.V.Caetano, Nídia2021-09-24T08:57:07Z20202020-01-01T00:00:00Zinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersioninfo:eu-repo/semantics/articleapplication/pdfhttp://hdl.handle.net/10400.22/18531eng2352-484710.1016/j.egyr.2020.11.156info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessreponame:Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)instname:Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informaçãoinstacron:RCAAP2023-03-13T13:10:08Zoai:recipp.ipp.pt:10400.22/18531Portal AgregadorONGhttps://www.rcaap.pt/oai/openaireopendoar:71602024-03-19T17:38:01.344886Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) - Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informaçãofalse
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Economic analysis of microalgae biodiesel production in a small-scale facility
title Economic analysis of microalgae biodiesel production in a small-scale facility
spellingShingle Economic analysis of microalgae biodiesel production in a small-scale facility
Branco-Vieira, M.
Bubble column photobioreactor
Microalgae biodiesel
Phaeodactylum tricornutum
Techno-economic analysis
title_short Economic analysis of microalgae biodiesel production in a small-scale facility
title_full Economic analysis of microalgae biodiesel production in a small-scale facility
title_fullStr Economic analysis of microalgae biodiesel production in a small-scale facility
title_full_unstemmed Economic analysis of microalgae biodiesel production in a small-scale facility
title_sort Economic analysis of microalgae biodiesel production in a small-scale facility
author Branco-Vieira, M.
author_facet Branco-Vieira, M.
Mata, T.M.
Martins, A.A.
Freitas, M.A.V.
Caetano, Nídia
author_role author
author2 Mata, T.M.
Martins, A.A.
Freitas, M.A.V.
Caetano, Nídia
author2_role author
author
author
author
dc.contributor.none.fl_str_mv Repositório Científico do Instituto Politécnico do Porto
dc.contributor.author.fl_str_mv Branco-Vieira, M.
Mata, T.M.
Martins, A.A.
Freitas, M.A.V.
Caetano, Nídia
dc.subject.por.fl_str_mv Bubble column photobioreactor
Microalgae biodiesel
Phaeodactylum tricornutum
Techno-economic analysis
topic Bubble column photobioreactor
Microalgae biodiesel
Phaeodactylum tricornutum
Techno-economic analysis
description Industrial production and commercialization of biodiesel from microalgae have become a good alternative to conventional feedstock. Microalgae show high growth rate and carbon sequestration and can be easily cultivate in fresh and/or marine water, using non-arable soil. This study aims to analyze the technical and economic feasibility of biodiesel production from Phaeodactylum tricornutum, using an algae biomass production scaled-up scenario, considering local reality prices and available technologies. The model assumes 80,000 m3 of microalgae cultivation, in a set of bubble column photobioreactors installed on 15.247 ha of land, reaching a total of 1,811 tons of microalgae biomass and 171,705 L of biodiesel per year. The production cost estimated for microalgae biomass is 2.01 € kg−1 and for biodiesel is 0.33 € L−1. The ROI calculated for the project is 10% with a 10 years’ payback time and an EBITDA of 588,139 € year−1. Despite the project’s viability in the medium term, the cost of producing microalgae biodiesel remains high when compared to fossil fuels. Thus, unless greater technological maturity is achieved to make the process more economical, it will not be viable in the short term.
publishDate 2020
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2020
2020-01-01T00:00:00Z
2021-09-24T08:57:07Z
dc.type.status.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
dc.type.driver.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
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dc.identifier.uri.fl_str_mv http://hdl.handle.net/10400.22/18531
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dc.language.iso.fl_str_mv eng
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dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv 2352-4847
10.1016/j.egyr.2020.11.156
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dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv Elsevier
publisher.none.fl_str_mv Elsevier
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