Modeling on Economic Feasibility Analysis of Biodiesel Production from Microalgae in China

Abstract

Although microalgae based biodiesel production has been studied for many years ever since microalgae have been recognized as the third generation biodiesel feedstock, there exists still a big gap when considering performing the whole process at an industrial scale to replace the conventional petroleum-based diesel. Therefore, this project presents an economic feasibility assessment for a facility that grows algae and transforms the algal biomass into transportation fuel. In addition to economic aspects, environmental impact assessment and an analysis of the carbon foot print are also covered. The whole system takes all the processes from microalgae cultivation to biodiesel production into account. The results obtained confirm that with the current technology, microalgal biodiesel production will not be competitive with the conventional diesel if an industrial scale facility were to be built today. However, the whole production is carbon neutral, or even carbon-negative, so that credits for greenhouse gas reduction, which have not been considered in this study, may impact the economic assessment.