Abstract
The demand for fuel for utilisation of machinery and transport has culminated in large amounts of fossil fuel usage in the last century. The environmental dangers attached with the usage of fossil fuels have created a large demand for alternative sources of fuels. There is an array of polysaccharides contained within macroalgae, such as mannitol, cellulose and laminarin. These polysaccharides have potential for production of alternative biofuels; however, they are not easily accessible for biological digestion. By pretreatment of macroalgae with enzymes, these polysaccharides may be easier to access by microbes, allowing effective utilization in anaerobic digestion. Saccharina latissima, available in abundance on the Norwegian coast line, is a brown macroalgae with a high level of carbohydrates. This study assesses the ability for utilisation of enzymatically pre-treated Saccharina latissima for production of biogas through anaerobic digestion. The harvested Saccharina latissima was analysed to contain 30.11 ± 2.30 g of reducing sugars per 100 g of dry sample upon enzymatic hydrolysis. This was able to yield 459 ± 30 mL per gVS of biogas through anaerobic digestion, with a methane content of 56%. This suggests a biomethane potential of 1760 m3 per ha of productive sea floor growing Saccharina latissima. An evaluation of this process has been performed to demonstrate the industrial potential of Saccharina latissima in biogas production.
Highlights
IntroductionMany biofuels (e.g., bioethanol, biogas and biodiesel), are promising alternatives due to their potential sustainability and low environmental impact [1] [2] [3] [4]
By exposing the microalgae to an enzymatic hydrolysis pre-treatment, the increases in straight forwardly digestable carbohydrates is of great interest to the biogas industry
The research undertaken in this study has presented the potential for utilisation of a common macroalgae (S. latissima) present in the Nordic coastal regions for production of biomethane through a straight-forward pre-treatment, followed by anaerobic digestion
Summary
Many biofuels (e.g., bioethanol, biogas and biodiesel), are promising alternatives due to their potential sustainability and low environmental impact [1] [2] [3] [4]. Many of these biofuels can be utilised by conventional means (e.g., internal combustion engines) when supplimented with fossil fuels [5]. To avoid utilisation of substrates that compete with food crops and require large amounts of land area [6] [7], unused biomass is of great interest, avoiding obstacles such as limited yields, geographic latitude, structural characteristics and high production costs [8]
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