Life cycle cost of biodiesel production from microalgae in Thailand

Biofuels derived from microalgae are currently gaining attention as alternative fuels, especially for substituting biodiesel. Microalgae can be grown either in open pond systems or in closed photobioreactors. However, the systems require a high initial capital investment for construction of pond and photobioreactor systems. This study aims to evaluate the financial feasibility of two types of large scale microalgae-based biodiesel production assumed to be located in the northern region of Thailand. Four algae-to-biofuels process scenarios were examined: base cases of raceway ponds and photobioreactors including only biodiesel production; and alternative cases for both, including extraction of high value added products, omega-3 fatty acids, in addition to biodiesel. The basis of biodiesel production was 720,000 L per year operated for 15 years. For the base case, the biodiesel production costs for algae produced from raceway ponds and photobioreactors were 68 and 224 Thai Baht/L, respectively, while for the alternative case, they were 191 and 450 Thai Baht/L, respectively. Even though the omega-3 fatty acid production gained higher revenue, the capital cost and operating cost would need to be reduced at least 50% to make the systems profitable. Several improvement options and possible government incentives to achieve this are presented.