Microalgae Biofuel for a Heavy-Duty Transport Sector within Planetary Boundaries
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Date
2023-06-26
Publication Type
Journal Article
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Abstract
In this contribution, we study the extent to which 68 scenarios for microalgae biofuels could help the heavy-duty transport sector operate within planetary boundaries. The proposed scenarios are built considering a range of alternative configurations based on three types of fuel production processes (i.e., transesterification, hydrodeoxygenation, and hydrothermal liquefaction), different carbon sources (such as natural gas power plants and direct air capture), byproduct treatments, and two electricity mixes. Our results reveal that microalgae biofuels could significantly reduce the environmental and human health impacts of the business-as-usual (fossil-based) heavy-duty transport sector. Moreover, relative to standard biofuels that show large land-use requirements, we find that microalgae biofuels also decrease the damage on biosphere integrity substantially. Notably, pathways resorting to hydrodeoxygenation of microalgae oil and direct air capture and carbon storage could reduce the current impact induced globally on climate change by the heavy transport by 77%, while attaining six-fold reductions in biosphere integrity impacts, both relative to conventional biofuels.
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published
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Journal / series
Volume
11 (25)
Pages / Article No.
9359 - 9371
Publisher
American Chemical Society
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Subject
microalgae; biofuels; LCA; planetary boundaries; renewables; biosphere integrity; human health
Organisational unit
09655 - Guillén Gosálbez, Gonzalo / Guillén Gosálbez, Gonzalo