1 research outputs found
Co-digestion of macroalgae for biogas production: an LCA-based environmental evaluation
Algae represent a favourable and potentially sustainable source of biomass for bioenergy-based industrial pathways in the future.
The study, performed on a real pilot plant implemented in Augusta (Italy) within the frame of the BioWALK4Biofuels project,
aims to figure out whether seaweed (macroalgae) cultivated in near-shore open ponds could be considered a beneficial aspect as a
source of biomass for biogas production within the co-digestion with local agricultural biological waste. The LCA results
confirm that the analysed A and B scenarios (namely the algae-based co-digestion scenario and agricultural mix feedstock
scenario) present an environmental performance more favourable than that achieved with conventional non-renewable-based
technologies (specifically natural gas - Scenario C). Results show that the use of seaweed (Scenario A) represent a feasible
solution in order to replace classical biomass used for biofuel production from a land-based feedstock. The improvement of the
environmental performances is quantifiable on 10% respect to Scenario B, and 38 times higher than Scenario