Year: 2015
Type: dissertation
Abstract: Figure 6: Comparison of the cost of a gallon of biofuel from different studies showing the level of variability of the results. The cost is in 2014 $. Source: [9] . Figure 4: Flow chart of the biofuel production process. A) Old production process, producing biodiesel by transestefirication. B) New production process, producing diesel and gasoline by HTL. Source [7] Energy is a key element in human life, and in all life in general. Humankind uses energy for a variety of things, from transportation, heating water, cooling houses, to the most basic one which is producing food. Industrial agriculture has allowed humans to greatly increase food production in order to feed and overpopulated planet. Because world population is still increasing, the energy demand is rapidly increasing while the fossil fuel sources are vanishing, and on the meantime climate change is worsening because of GHG emissions. Algae biofuels are a solution to both problems, energy reserves depletion and GHG emissions. In this project the current situation of algae biofuels is analyzed, from both techno-economical and sustainability points of view. In addition, improvements to the production process will be analyzed in order to predict the viability of this technology in the future. Finally other renewable energy sources will be briefly analyzed to determine other possible solutions for energy shortage and climate change.
Language: English
Field: Energy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2239837250