Techno-economic analysis of microalgal biomass production in a 1-ha Green Wall Panel (GWP®) plant
| Autor: | Niccolò Bassi, Mario R. Tredici, Natascia Biondi, Liliana Rodolfi, Giacomo Sampietro |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 2016 |
| Předmět: |
0301 basic medicine
Green Wall Panel 020209 energy Biomass Photobioreactor 02 engineering and technology 7. Clean energy 12. Responsible consumption 03 medical and health sciences Agricultural science 0202 electrical engineering electronic engineering information engineering Production (economics) Productivity Hectare Techno-economic analysis 2. Zero hunger biology business.industry Microalgal biomass biology.organism_classification Biotechnology Tetraselmis suecica 030104 developmental biology 13. Climate action Agriculture Biofuel Tetraselmis Environmental science business Agronomy and Crop Science Green wall |
| Zdroj: | Algal Research. 19:253-263 |
| ISSN: | 2211-9264 |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.algal.2016.09.005 |
| Popis: | The objective of this techno-economic analysis (TEA) was to define the production cost of the microalga Tetraselmis suecica in a 1-ha plant made of “Green Wall Panel-II” (GWP®-II) photobioreactors. The study was based on an energy analysis carried out for a similar plant located in Tuscany (Italy) and considers the steps from inoculum preparation to the wet algal paste. Costs of equipment and materials were obtained from manufacturers and suppliers, while operating costs and output data (e.g. biomass composition and productivity) were collected during several years of trials at the Fotosintetica & Microbiologica S.r.l. facilities (Florence, Italy). Other data were obtained from Microalghe Camporosso S.r.l. (Imperia, Italy), where a commercial 1500-m2 GWP®-I plant is in operation and two 250-m2 GWP®-II modules were built and used in the framework of the EU project BIOFAT. This TEA shows that, given a productivity of 36 tonnes per hectare per year, T. suecica biomass can be produced at a cost of €12.4 kg− 1 (dry weight). Using conservative assumptions it was estimated that at the 100-ha scale the cost will be €5.1 kg− 1. Locating the plant in more favorable climatic conditions (e.g. in Tunisia) will allow reaching 54 tonnes per hectare annually and reducing cost to €6.2 kg− 1 at the 1-ha scale and to €3.2 kg− 1 at the 100-ha scale. The major cost factors are labor at 1-ha scale in Tuscany and capital expenses in all the other cases. This TEA confirms that microalgal technologies have high potential not only for high-value, but also for medium- and low-value products, while the production of biofuels, protein, food and feed seems currently out of reach. However, the global scenario of agriculture commodities is rapidly changing and other factors (e.g. sustainability), besides a pure economic evaluation, will assume greater importance in the future. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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