Sustainable Integration of Algal Biodiesel Production with Steam Electric Power Plants for Greenhouse Gas Mitigation

Significant reductions in anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, particularly of fossil carbon dioxide (CO2), are necessary worldwide in order to prevent adverse impacts of global climate change on the socio-economic sectors, ecological systems, and human health. In this context, this study aims to investigate the economic and environmental aspects of sustainability associated with the integration of algal biodiesel production with a steam electric power plant for microalgae biofixation of CO2 in flue gases and then algal biomass conversion to biodiesel. This integrated energy system is a multipurpose process that provides the CO2 required by the microalgae cultures as well as electricity, biodiesel produced from the algal biomass, and lipid-depleted biomass which is in turn used as an auxiliary fuel in the power plant. A multi-objective optimization strategy based on genetic algorithms is proposed to yield a set of optimal solutions providing the best compromise between the profit and the environm...

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