Biogas from Macroalgae: is it time to revisit the idea?

The economic and environmental viability of dedicated terrestrial energy crops is in doubt. The production of large scale biomass (macroalgae) for biofuels in the marine environment was first tested in the late 1960’s. The culture attempts failed due to the engineering challenges of farming offshore...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Biotechnology for biofuels 2012-11, Vol.5 (1), p.86-86
Main Authors: Hughes, Adam D, Kelly, Maeve S, Black, Kenneth D, Stanley, Michele S
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Agriculture
Algae
Alternative energy sources
Anaerobic digestion
Aquaculture
Aquaculture industry
Biodiesel fuels
Biodiversity
Biofuels
Biogas
biomass
Biomass energy
case studies
chemical composition
Coasts
Emission standards
Emissions
energy conversion
energy crops
Farms
feedstocks
Food
food production
Force and energy
freshwater
Freshwater resources
Harvest
Iodine
Macroalgae
Marine algae
marine environment
Methane
Physiological aspects
Plant biomass
Productivity
Review
Seaweed
Technology application
technology transfer
viability
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Summary:The economic and environmental viability of dedicated terrestrial energy crops is in doubt. The production of large scale biomass (macroalgae) for biofuels in the marine environment was first tested in the late 1960’s. The culture attempts failed due to the engineering challenges of farming offshore. However the energy conversion via anaerobic digestion was successful as the biochemical composition of macroalgae makes it an ideal feedstock. The technology for the mass production of macroalgae has developed principally in China and Asia over the last 50 years to such a degree that it is now the single largest product of aquaculture. There has also been significant technology transfer and macroalgal cultivation is now well tried and tested in Europe and America. The inherent advantage of production of biofuel feedstock in the marine environment is that it does not compete with food production for land or fresh water. Here we revisit the idea of the large scale cultivation of macroalgae at sea for subsequent anaerobic digestion to produce biogas as a source of renewable energy, using a European case study as an example.
ISSN:1754-6834
1754-6834
DOI:10.1186/1754-6834-5-86