Energetic and environmental impacts related to transport and assembling processes in a biogas production plant from marine macroalgae (FP7 Project Biowalk4Biofuels)

GHG emissions, eutrophication and energy dependence are problems that the EU has to face in the near future. The BioWALK4Biofuels project aims to find a common response to these challenges, taking advantage of spontaneous biological processes: the growth of algae and anaerobic digestion of biomass. This project is being built thanks to European funding under the 7th Framework Programme. To evaluate the results obtained a first LCA study was carried out that, as regards the data on infrastructure and on the assembly of the plant refers to data supplied by manufacturers, while the study of algal growth was made on the basis of a model of cultivation that takes account of the aspects that most affect this key process among all the ones that cooperate in the whole plant. The electricity and heat produced through a co-generator fueled by biogas produced from algal biomass, according to this study, are responsible for GHG emissions reduced by 52% compared to traditional technologies. The biogas produced during the 4 years of the project allows the substitution of 85 tonne of oil equivalent (toe).