Microalgae for sustainable production of bioproducts: environmental and economic assessment

The usage of microalgae has achieved critical importance for an environmentally sustainable society. Microalgae biomass can be transformed to third-generation biofuels by thermal, chemical, and biological processes. Growing algae for energy purposes, however, is still controversial in terms of long-term viability and economic viability. As a result, the majority of microalgae biomass is produced for high-value applications. The goal of this research is to conduct a techno-economic analysis of the production of bioproducts from microalgae. The study also intends to improve algae-based wastewater treatment technologies. Different scenarios are compared, taking into account various ways of producing microalgae and the production of various bioproducts (biogas, pigments, and biostimulants). Some of the scenarios are examined from an environmental point of view by means of the carbon footprint (CFP). The comparison of the scenarios allows for critical considerations of both the economic and environmental factors of each situation. Indeed, bioproducts must be both environmentally beneficial and commercially competitive in the market. The cost of producing microalgae bioproducts is calculated using a methodology similar to that used in Acién et al. (2012). First, a flowchart was created for each scenario to represent the procedure. The data was then organized and the costs were calculated using an Excel file. According to the findings, a land area of 5 hectares would be the ideal scale for cost reduction. The study's results also suggest that using wastewater as a culture medium decreases production expenses. Furthermore, treating wastewater at the same time has considerable economic and environmental advantages. In future studies, the costs determined from these scenarios could be compared to market pricing.