The (Exergetic) Life Cycle Assessment ((E)LCA) of microalgae production as feed for aquaculture: an environmental sustainability analysis Sue Ellen TAELMAN (a) S. De Meester (a) , L. Roef (b) , M. Michiels (b) , J. Dewulf (a) (a) Research Group EnVOC, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Coupure Links 653, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium (b) Proviron Holding nv, G. Gilliotstraat 60, 2620 Hemiksem, Belgium SETAC Conference 11-13 November 2013 Rome, Italy
Introduction Aquaculture: feeding fish to fish principle is not sustainable Alternative for fish oil/meal production = ALGAE Microalgae are unicellular, mostly photo-autotrophic organisms They need water, light and inorganic nutrients to grow Some advantages: Very rich biomass Able to live of waste streams Higher photosynthetic efficiency Marginal land is sufficient Known disadvantages: Low cell density cultivation -> reflection on harvesting and processing Claimed to be a sustainable biomass resource -> correct? .
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The (Exergetic) Life Cycle Assessment ((E)LCA) of microalgae production as feed for aquaculture:
an environmental sustainability analysis
Sue Ellen TAELMAN(a)
S. De Meester(a), L. Roef(b), M. Michiels(b), J. Dewulf(a)
(a) Research Group EnVOC, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Coupure Links 653, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium(b) Proviron Holding nv, G. Gilliotstraat 60, 2620 Hemiksem, Belgium
(a) based on document UNEP, 2006a (b) based on document UNEP, 2006b (c) Piek et al., 2012 (d) Sheehan et al., 1998
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LCA: results (1)
Pilot plant (2012)
Forecast:Pilot plant
(2013)
Forecast: First production scale
(2015)
Cumulative Energy Extraction from the Natural Environment (CEENE)MJex,CEENE/MJex DM 55.5 21.6 2.46
Renewable 0.58 0.18 0.11
Fossil 21.26 8.04 1.24
Nuclear 24.45 9.32 0.23
Metal ores 0.02 0.01 0.00
Minerals 0.17 0.01 0.01
Water 4.47 1.34 0.20
Land use 4.57 2.66 0.68
Atmosphere 0.00 0.00 0.00
Carbon Footprint (CF) kg CO2,eq/MJex DM
1.76 0.64 0.09
10
Pilot 2012 Pilot 2013 First production scale 2015
Reference fish feed*
0102030405060 55.5
21.6
2.46 7.7
CEENE (MJex,CEENE/MJex DM)
LCA: results (2)
*(Huysveld et al., 2011; Huysveld et al., 2013)
3% 5%
8%
84%
Renewable Fossil Nuclear Metal ores MineralsWater Land use Atmosphere
Pilot 2012 Pilot 2013 First production scale 2015
Reference fish feed*
0
0.5
1
1.5
2 1.76
0.64
0.09 0.05
IPCC (kg CO2,eq / MJex DM)
CEENE (MJex,CEENE/MJex DM)
IPCC (kg CO2,eq/MJex DM)
Forecast Pilot 2013
Forecast First Production scale 2015
Pilot 2012
Pilot 2012 Forecast Pilot 2013
Forecast First Production scale 2015
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• Recycling of water/nutrients and savings on energy use show important routes to make the overall production more sustainable
• Also upscaling, reactor design improvements, enhancement of photosynthetic yield and good choice of location contribute to an environmental progress
• Although additional efforts are required to improve the carbon footprint, in the near future algae production can reach a lower resource footprint (2.46 MJex,CEENE/MJex DM) than traditional fish feed (7.70 MJex,CEENE/MJex DM)