Abstract
This chapter addresses a technoeconomic and environmental review of two promising pathways for recovering value-added products from wastewater: polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) production and algal cultivation for biofuels. The production of PHAs using the organic content in wastewater was found technically feasible but not economically viable. In this regard, the economy of scale plays a relevant role toward successful commercialization. Furthermore, some studies suggest that PHA production may lead to a higher reduction of greenhouse gas emissions than biogas production from wastewater or synthetic plastics. On the other hand, algal cultivation toward biofuels is generally considered to provide a significant reduction of the ecological footprint when compared with the use of fresh water for the same process and the production of fossil fuels. As a general conclusion, caution should be exercised on the prospects of algal biofuels as a full-scale alternative as other environmental and energy concerns arise.
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