Potential process ‘hurdles’ in the use of macroalgae as feedstock for biofuel production in the British Isles

Milledge, John J.; Harvey, Patricia J.

doi:10.1002/jctb.5003

Cited by 75 publications

(50 citation statements)

References 120 publications

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“…Process inputs, such as the use of a neutralizing agent, phosphate fertilizer and calcium carbonate, in addition to energy utilities in the biorefinery, are all inputs into the process flow that cause environmental hotspots. While our study is to the best of our knowledge the first assessing life cycle environmental impacts of LA production from Laminaria sp., previous studies have already highlighted these energy‐intensive processes as important contributors to environmental impact profiles (Milledge & Harvey, ; Seghetta, Hou, Bastianoni, Bjerre, & Thomsen, ). In Table d, we present the results for the scenario without biomass drying, indicating potential environmental gains when drying and related energy use can be avoided.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 97%

Environmental hotspots of lactic acid production systems

et al. 2019

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Using selected bio‐based feedstocks as alternative to fossil resources for producing biochemicals and derived materials is increasingly considered an important goal of a viable bioeconomy worldwide. However, to ensure that using bio‐based feedstocks is aligned with the global sustainability agenda, impacts along the entire life cycle of biochemical production systems need to be evaluated. This will help to identify those processes and technologies, which should be targeted for optimizing overall environmental sustainability performance. To address this need, we quantify environmental impacts of biochemical production using distinct bio‐based feedstocks, and discuss the potential for reducing impact hotspots via process optimization. Lactic acid (LA) was used as an example biochemical derived from corn, corn stover, and macroalgae (Laminaria sp.) as feedstocks of different technological maturity. We used environmental life cycle assessment (LCA), a standardized methodology, considering the full life cycle of the analyzed biochemical production systems and a broad range of environmental impact indicators. Across production systems, feedstock production and biorefinery processes dominate life cycle impact profiles, with choice in energy mix and biomass processing as main influencing aspects. Results show that uncertainty decreases with increasing technological maturity. When using Laminaria sp. (least mature among selected feedstocks), impacts are mainly driven by energy utilities (up to 86%) due to biomass drying. This suggests to focus on optimizing or avoiding this process for significantly increasing environmental sustainability of Laminaria sp.‐based LA production. Our results demonstrate that applying LCA is useful for identifying environmental impact hotspots at an earlier stage of technological development across biochemical production systems. With that, our approach contributes to improving the environmental sustainability of future biochemical production as part of moving toward a viable bioeconomy worldwide.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 97%

Environmental hotspots of lactic acid production systems

et al. 2019

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“…Dewatering (the mechanical removal of water) generally uses less energy than evaporation, and thus it would appear preferable to minimise the water content of the harvested algae prior to drying. Although coal-fired driers have been used in Ireland for the production of seaweed-meal products [123], the use of fossil fuels to dry seaweed will be costly, have a negative energy balance, and produce unwanted greenhouse gas [32,124]. However, the cost of conventional drying could be reduced if 'waste' heat is available from power generation or large-scale refrigeration plant.…”

Section: Dryingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, "an understanding of ensiling of seaweed is absolutely crucial for a substantial seaweed biofuel industry" [144]. There was some research into the ensilage of seaweed in the 1950s [142], and more recently in both Ireland and the United Kingdom [124,144]. A recent study of ensiling Sargassum muticum concluded that ensiling is an energy-efficient method of preserving seaweed for biofuel, and in particular biogas production, as energy losses are low (<8%) and methane yields are not significantly reduced [34].…”

Section: Ensilagementioning

confidence: 99%

Golden Tides: Problem or Golden Opportunity? The Valorisation of Sargassum from Beach Inundations

Milledge

Harvey

2016

JMSE

148

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Abstract:In recent years there have been massive inundations of pelagic Sargassum, known as golden tides, on the beaches of the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and West Africa, causing considerable damage to the local economy and environment. Commercial exploration of this biomass for food, fuel, and pharmaceutical products could fund clean-up and offset the economic impact of these golden tides. This paper reviews the potential uses and obstacles for exploitation of pelagic Sargassum. Although Sargassum has considerable potential as a source of biochemicals, feed, food, fertiliser, and fuel, variable and undefined composition together with the possible presence of marine pollutants may make golden tides unsuitable for food, nutraceuticals, and pharmaceuticals and limit their use in feed and fertilisers. Discontinuous and unreliable supply of Sargassum also presents considerable challenges. Low-cost methods of preservation such as solar drying and ensiling may address the problem of discontinuity. The use of processes that can handle a variety of biological and waste feedstocks in addition to Sargassum is a solution to unreliable supply, and anaerobic digestion for the production of biogas is one such process. More research is needed to characterise golden tides and identify and develop commercial products and processes.

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“…It has a low dry matter content [24] and a high rate of decomposition, making storage problematic as with feedstocks of similar characteristics [25,26]. To solve this problem, as part of the "AquaMak" project, a series of ensiling tests were carried out [27].…”

Section: S5 Ensilingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using aquatic plant biomass from de-weeding in biogas processes—an economically viable option?

et al. 2018

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Background: Landscape maintenance in Germany today requires regular and extensive de-weeding of waterways, mostly to ensure water runoff and provide flood protection. The costs for this maintenance are high, and the harvested biomass goes to waste. Methods: We evaluated the economic feasibility of using water plant biomass as a substrate in biogas generation. We set up a plausible supply chain, used it to calculate the costs of using aquatic water biomass as a seasonal feedstock to generate biogas, and compared it against maize silage, a standard biogas substrate. We also calculated the costs of using the aquatic biomass mixed with straw silage.

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Potential process ‘hurdles’ in the use of macroalgae as feedstock for biofuel production in the British Isles

Cited by 75 publications

References 120 publications

Environmental hotspots of lactic acid production systems

Environmental hotspots of lactic acid production systems

Golden Tides: Problem or Golden Opportunity? The Valorisation of Sargassum from Beach Inundations

Using aquatic plant biomass from de-weeding in biogas processes—an economically viable option?

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