Malaysia's economic growth relies on depletable fossil fuels that raise atmospheric CO2. Accordingly, researchers search for sustainable fuels that sequester significant levels of CO2. Chlorella vulgaris meets these criteria, but high production costs hamper its adoption. The hypothesis is that technological advances improve the commercial viability of algal bioethanol. A large-scale agricultural model is modified to study algal cultivation. Algal bioethanol becomes competitive if algal producers experience an annual 2 % harvest yield gain or a 3 % annual production cost reduction. Algal bioethanol is predicted to produce 4249.21 megalitres in 2059 for harvest yield gains. It sequesters 9.72 megatons of CO2-equivalent tailpipe emissions and 12.78 megatons of flue gas in 2059. Meanwhile, production cost reductions yield 1607.61 megalitres in 2064. It sequesters 3.68 megatons of CO2-equivalent tailpipe emissions and 10.68 megatons of flue gas in 2059. Thus, the hypothesis is supported that technological advancements improve the commercial viability of algal bioethanol.
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