An economic model for offshore cultivation of macroalgae

Algae biomass is considered as a potential non-fossil source of raw materials to produce fuel, feed, chemicals and materials. For this purpose microalgae as well as macroalgae can be used, and in this report we focus on the latter. More than 99% of the world production of aquatic plants is produced in Asia (FAO 2012, Table 1). From the remaining 1% about 4% is cultivated in Europe. Important European countries with commercial seaweed cultivation are Denmark, Ireland and France. Depending on their pigmentation seaweed species are commonly grouped in brown, red and green seaweeds

Environmental assessment of bioethanol from onshore grown green seaweed

Algae are an attractive, alternative renewable source for biofuel production compared to biomass from food crops or cellulosic materials. Marine algae do not need fresh water or arable land and, thus, production of marine algae does not compete with food production. In contrast to biofuel production from microalgae, the use of macroalgal biomass as feedstock for biofuel production is still in its infancy. This study presents an environmental assessment of bioethanol from onshore grown green seaweed using the life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology. The environmental assessment is based on data from literature and initial laboratory scale experiments, as industrial scale facilities for bioethanol production from macroalgae do not exist. Alternative systems are compared to the reference system and the limits of the LCA are discussed with respect to the co-product management (allocation vs. substitution) in the LCA model. Impact assessment results showed that nutrients for seaweed growth and electricity consumption by the culture system were the main contributors to the environmental burdens of the reference system. Bioethanol from onshore cultivated green seaweed turned out to be an environmentally efficient biofuel compared to fossil fuel and bioethanol from sugarcane. The type of co-product management selected in LCA largely affected the impact assessment results

Comparative environmental life cycle assessment of two seaweed cultivation systems in North West Europe with a focus on quantifying sea surface occupation

Environmental concerns regarding natural resource depletion have led to the cultivation of more renewable resources such as seaweed biomass. As the cultivation in Europe is still in its early stages, an estimation of the environmental sustainability may boost further development of this sector by highlighting its competitiveness. A case study on the resource footprint of Saccharina latissima production near the West coast of Ireland (18 ha of floating longlines) and France (0.6 ha of raft systems) is performed. The Cumulative Exergy Extraction from the Natural Environment (CEENE) method is used to quantify the exergy deprived from 8 types of natural resources (incl. marine resources) to produce 1 MJex biomass. For Ireland and France, results of the Exergetic Life Cycle Assessment (ELCA) are 1.7 MJex MJex-1 and 8.7 MJex MJex-1, respectively. Compared to the footprint of microalgae and several terrestrial plants (sugar beets, maize and potatoes), typically showing values in the range of 0.92-3.88 MJex MJex-1, seaweed production in North West Europe (especially in Ireland) is relatively resource-efficient. Moreover, the potential to improve the resource footprint of seaweed production is investigated; in the short-term, seaweed can be cultivated with a comparable life cycle resource demand as several land plants.JRC.H.8-Sustainability Assessmen

An economic model for offshore cultivation of macroalgae

Algae biomass is considered as a potential non-fossil source of raw materials to produce fuel, feed, chemicals and materials. For this purpose microalgae as well as macroalgae can be used, and in this report we focus on the latter. More than 99% of the world production of aquatic plants is produced in Asia (FAO 2012, Table 1). From the remaining 1% about 4% is cultivated in Europe. Important European countries with commercial seaweed cultivation are Denmark, Ireland and France. Depending on their pigmentation seaweed species are commonly grouped in brown, red and green seaweeds