Technoeconomic analysis of five microalgae-to-biofuels processes of varying complexity

A review of the harvesting of micro-algae for biofuel production

“…It has been suggested that 20 to 30% of the costs of micro-algal biomass is due to the costs of harvesting (Mata et al 2010;Molina Grima et al 2003;Verma et al 2010), but estimates as high as 50% of micro-algal biomass cost have been given (Greenwell et al 2010). It has been estimated that 90% of the equipment cost for algal biomass production in open systems may come from harvesting and dewatering (Amer et al 2011). The need for continuous harvesting of the dilute suspension makes the harvesting of micro-algae 'inherently more expensive' than harvesting land plants , and the separation of micro-algae by settlement and centrifugation can have a harvesting energy requirement of 1 MJ kg -1 of dry biomass, greater than the energy cost of harvesting wood at 0.7 -0.9…”

Effect of lake water on algal biomass and microbial community structure in municipal wastewater-based lab-scale photobioreactors

“…However, its use in large-scale biofuel production has been limited due to high running costs and energy requirements (Amer et al 2011;Beal et al 2011). One way to reduce operational costs and add value is to use municipal wastewater as a medium for the algal production (Su et al 2011;Riaño et al 2012).…”

Microalgae production in a biofilm photobioreactor

“…However, without this information, an assessment of the process economics and sustainability is impossible. Ignoring the energy balance in life cycle analysis over biofuel production can therefore result in flawed discussions (Amer et al 2011;Chen et al 2011). The objective was to evaluate the costs and energy balance related to the implementation of artificial light in microalgae cultivation.…”