Abstract
We present a comparative environmental and social life cycle assessment (ELCA and SLCA) of algal fuel and fodder co-production (AF + fodder) versus algal fuel and energy co-production (AF + energy). Our ELCA results indicate that fodder co-production offers an advantage in the following categories: climate change (biogenic land use and land use change total), ecotoxicity, marine eutrophication, ionizing radiation, photochemical ozone creation, and land use. By contrast, the AF + energy system yields lower impacts in the other 11 out of 19 Environmental Footprint impact categories. Only AF + fodder offers greenhouse gas reduction compared to petroleum diesel (−25%). Our SLCA results indicate that AF + fodder yields lower impacts in the following categories: fair salaries, forced labor, gender wage gap, health expenditure, unemployment, and violation of employment laws and regulations. AF + energy performs favorably in the other three out of nine social indicators. We conclude that the choice of co-products has a strong influence on the sustainability of algal fuel production. Despite this, none of the compared systems are found to yield a consistent advantage in the environmental or social dimension. It is, therefore, not possible to recommend a co-production strategy without weighing environmental and social issues.
Highlights
Martín-Gamboa, Ana Cláudia Dias, Awareness of the detrimental impact that humanity has on the environment is growing worldwide and is becoming increasingly relevant in the public debate
We present an environmental and social life cycle assessment (ELCA, SLCA) that includes all 19 indicators
Our comparison of algal fuel to petroleum diesel further identifies the need for improvement in several environmental impact categories
Summary
Martín-Gamboa, Ana Cláudia Dias, Awareness of the detrimental impact that humanity has on the environment is growing worldwide and is becoming increasingly relevant in the public debate. In 2015, 195 countries adopted the Paris Agreement—the first globally binding covenant on climate—with the goal of limiting global warming well below +2 °C compared to the pre-industrial era [1]. It is well known that the massive use of fossil fuels is a driver of climate change. In 2018, the world primary energy demand amounted to 14.3 billion tonnes oil equivalent (Btoe), 81%. Of which were met by fossil fuels [2]. In the shift towards more sustainable energy sources, biofuels are expected to play a significant role [3]. Microalgal fuel, in particular, offers two advantages over first-generation fuels made from soybeans or rapeseed: Microalgae offer potentially higher biomass yields per unit area [4,5], and they can be grown on marginal lands, thereby avoiding competition with the food and fodder sector [6]
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