An integrated assessment of location-dependent scaling for microalgae biofuel production facilities

Successful development of a large-scalemicroalgae-based biofuels industry requires comprehensive analysis and understanding of the feedstock supply chain-fromfacility siting and design through processing and upgrading of the feedstock to a fuel product. The evolution from pilot-scale production facilities to energy-scale operations presents many multi-disciplinary challenges, including a sustainable supply of water and nutrients, operational and infrastructure logistics, and economic competitiveness with petroleum-based fuels. These challenges are partially addressed by applying the Integrated Assessment Framework (IAF) - an integrated multi-scale modeling, analysis, and data management suite - to address key issues in developing and operating an open-pond microalgae production facility. This is done by analyzing how variability and uncertainty over space and through time affect feedstock production rates, and determining the site-specific "optimum" facility scale to minimize capital and operational expenses. This approach explicitly and systematically assesses the interdependence of biofuel production potential, associated resource requirements, and production system design trade-offs. To provide a baseline analysis, the IAF was applied to a set of sites in the southeastern U.S. with the potential to cumulatively produce 5 billion gallons per year. The results indicate costs can be reduced by scaling downstream processing capabilities to fit site-specific growing conditions, available and economically viable resources, and specific microalgal strains. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.