An Assessment Of Microalgal Biodiesel With Acetone, Butanol and Ethanol Using LIfe Cycle Assessment (LCA) Methodology

Abstract

Canada, as one of the largest producers and consumers of fossil fuels per capita on the planet, is attempting to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In order to accomplish this, fuel alternatives, such as biofuel, are required. Accordingly, this study uses LCA methodology to quantify the GHG impact of a unique biofuel production model. This unique model produces biodiesel (BD), acetone, butanol and ethanol (ABE) from microalgae and assesses the process GHG impact against other microalgal BD production processes. This study’s microalgal BD and ABE production process produces 76 kgCO2e per functional unit, whereas other comparable microalgal BD production processes produce between 3.7 and 85 kgCO2e. Overall, this study clarifies that without the development of versatile infrastructure to accommodate biofuel production, LCA studies will continue to find renewable fuel production processes net GHG positive for the simple reason that fossil resources are still the primary energy source.