Modelling biological and techno-operational uncertainty in Ex Ante LCA of microalgal molecule productions

Pierre Jouannais, Massimo Pizzol

Research output: Contribution to conference without publisher/journalConference abstract for conferenceResearchpeer-review

Abstract

On the ground of their mostly unexplored phylogenetic and biochemical diversity, microalgae are being explored in a search for new high value and promising molecules such as food supplements, nutraceuticals or pharmaceuticals. The literature shows a high variability of the environmental impacts associated to microalgae products due to diversity of strains, locations, cultivation periods and technologies. As no industrial scale process data is available for microalgae, LCA studies rely either on laboratory and pilot scale results or on assumptions on productivities in given production systems.
However, we do not know to what extent the assumptions and results from these previous studies can be generalized to novel strains. Biophysical models have shown how different strains behave and grow distinctly in different cultivation systems. For a novel strain and molecule, we thus cannot forecast yet which photobioreactor geometry and which operational parameters (biomass concentration and flow rate) will allow a certain productivity.
To integrate this uncertainty in the Ex-ante LCA of novel microalgae products, we propose and test a parametrized, dynamic and consequential LCA model combined with a stochastic approach. The deterministic model relies on 60 interacting and independent parameters covering the biological, techno-operational, physical and geographical dimensions of microalgae production and simulates the production in any location and season. An extended stochastic Fourier Amplitude Sensitivity Test (FAST) is performed and propagates the uncertainty on 6 parameters associated to the Photobioreactor design, operation and thermoregulation to the environmental impacts.
The model is tested for a realistic strain cultivated in Aalborg; Denmark and Granada; Spain and shows that thermoregulation is a key and overlooked environmental hotspot, both in absolute value and in uncertainty. The results highlight the necessity, for Ex-ante assessments, to go beyond simplistic assumptions on areal productivities as little variation of the cultivation system and operation may lead to significantly different impacts. Despite uncertainty, the model shows little overlapping for the environmental impacts between the two locations and thus demonstrates its applicability as a decision-making tool. This work and model eventually aim at exploring the future environmental impacts of microalgae productions through comprehensiveness, uncertainty integration and transparency.
Original languageEnglish
Publication date15 May 2022
Publication statusPublished - 15 May 2022
EventSETAC Copenhagen – SETAC Europe 32nd Annual Meeting: Towards a Reduced Pollution Society - Bella Center, Copenhagen, Denmark
Duration: 15 May 202219 May 2022
https://europe2022.setac.org/

Conference

ConferenceSETAC Copenhagen – SETAC Europe 32nd Annual Meeting
LocationBella Center
Country/TerritoryDenmark
CityCopenhagen
Period15/05/202219/05/2022
Internet address

Keywords

  • Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)
  • Microalgae
  • Modelling
  • Prospective LCA
  • Industrial Ecology

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