Page 157 - Materials Chemistry, Second Edition

Comparison of Algal Biodiesel Production
Pathways Using Life Cycle Assessment
Tool

Anoop Singh and Stig Irving Olsen

Abstract The consideration of algal biomass in biodiesel production increased
very rapidly in the last decade. A life cycle assessment (LCA) study is presented to
compare six different biodiesel production pathways (three different harvesting
techniques, i.e., aluminum as flocculent, lime flocculent, and centrifugation, and
two different oil extraction methods, i.e., supercritical CO 2 (sCO 2 ) and press and
co-solvent extraction). The cultivation of Nannochloropsis sp. considered in a flat-
panel photobioreactor (FPPBR). These algal biodiesel production systems were
compared with the conventional diesel in a EURO 5 passenger car used for
transport purpose (functional unit 1 person km (pkm). The algal biodiesel pro-
duction systems provide lesser impact (22–105 %) in comparison with conven-
tional diesel. Impacts of algal biodiesel on climate change were far better than
conventional diesel, but impacts on human health, ecosystem quality, and
resources were higher than the conventional diesel. This study recommends more
practical data at pilot-scale production plant with maximum utilization of by-
products generated during the production to produce a sustainable algal biodiesel.

1 Introduction

The production and utilization of algal biomass for biodiesel production is a
rapidly growing industry all over the world due to increasing crude oil prices,
import reliance, depletion of domestic petroleum resources, environmental

A. Singh (&) S. I. Olsen
Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR), Ministry of Science and
Technology, Technology Bhawan, New Mehrauli Road, New Delhi 110016, India
e-mail: apsinghenv@gmail.com
S. I. Olsen
e-mail: siol@dtu.dk

A. Singh et al. (eds.), Life Cycle Assessment of Renewable Energy Sources, 145
Green Energy and Technology, DOI: 10.1007/978-1-4471-5364-1_7,
Ó Springer-Verlag London 2013