Integration of Photobiological Hydrogen Production by Micro-algae into the Latvian Energy Supply System: an LCA approach
Biohydrogen Production: 9th International Hydrogenase Conference 2010
Francesco Romagnoli, Dagnija Blumberga, Iluta Pilicka

Latvian’s energy supply is based on a balanced mixture of energy sources, in which renewable sources are represented with circa 30% in the final energy consumption for the year 2007. The EU directive fixes the target of 40% share of renewable energy resources in the final consumption in 2020. Latvia takes an active part in research on the climate change issues and the country has undertaken EU and Kyoto obligations for CO2 emission reduction and increase of share of the renewable energy sources in energy supply mix. Dependence on imported energy sources, growth of electricity prices, the need for support to local producers are the main reasons for use of new renewable energy technologies in the Latvian energy sector. In this context hydrogen is perceived as one of the most promising options for energy storage and transport in the future. If hydrogen is produced from renewable energy sources, it can help to solve energy related problems such as climate change, air pollution, and energy security. One regenerative path to produce hydrogen is the photobiological hydrogen production by the green microalgae Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. This innovative technology for the biological and renewable production of hydrogen could play an important part in the future in Latvian energy sector for a transition to an hydrogen economy, minimizing emission with significance in regional and global levels and in order to be implemented in the market of the white credit. Nowdays the outcomes of biohydrogen from photosynthesis processes are still small, however different development methods and laboratory studies are carried out to increase the yield and meanwhile addressing the influence to the environment and climate change. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is one approach that enables the energy requirements, GHG balance and other environmental impacts of bioenergy production chains to be accounted and accurately compared. Hence LCA is good tool in order to give the possibility to compare different biohydrogen production approaches. The intention of this paper is to compare different LCAs on the photobiological hydrogen production to evaluate potentials and prospects and to rank the process with other regenerative hydrogen production technologies. The comparison has been made under the selection of four impact categories (global warming, acidification potentials, eutrophication potential and land usage) and through an energy analysis based on the cumulated energy demand. At the end also economical aspects are analyzed.


Keywords
life cycle analysis, photosynthesis, green algae, renewable energies

Romagnoli, F., Blumberga, D., Pilicka, I. Integration of Photobiological Hydrogen Production by Micro-algae into the Latvian Energy Supply System: an LCA approach. In: Biohydrogen Production: 9th International Hydrogenase Conference, Sweden, Uppsala, 28 Jun-2 Jul., 2010. Uppsala: 2010, pp.1-1.

Publication language
English (en)
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