Large Scale Production of Nannochloropsis sp. using Flue Gas
Background
In 2010, interests exist in China to capture Carbon Dioxide from fluegas emitted from coal-fired powerplants. A large scale 10ha facility was constructed in eastern China, utilizing the fluegas from a neighbouring coal-fired powerplant and water from Bohai Sea as cultivation medium. Nannochloropsis sp. was grown and sold as aquaculture feed. This study evaluates the environmental performance of the production facility from an energy and greenhouse gases (GHG) perspective. An input-output based energy analysis was conducted and evaluated using Edible Protein Energy Return on Investment (epEROI) and overall GHG emissions were accounted for from a life cycle perspective.
Findings
The inventory of the processes at the facility, along with an input-output analysis of material and energy demands shows the facility requires large quantities of energy. The facility itself produces minimal GHG emissions when compared to the overall GHG emissions from a life cycle perspective. However when put into perspective of producing biomass as feed, providing benefits such as protein, epEROI results suggest such production is on par with other protein sources when considering energy output and demands from a life cycle perspective.
Reference
Pechsiri, J., 2019. Nutrient Recovery as an Added Benefit to Harvests of Photosynthetic Marine Biomass: A Holistic Systems Perspective on Harvesting Marine Microalgae, Cyanobacteria, and Macroalgae (Doctoral dissertation, KTH Royal Institute of Technology).