Article ID Journal Published Year Pages File Type
6764438 Renewable Energy 2018 23 Pages PDF
Abstract
In this paper the utilisation of the marine evertebrate organism Ciona intestinalis (tunicata), cultivated in the North Sea and used as feedstock for biogas and biofertilizer production is suggested and assessed. The greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions performance of the concept and it's consequences on marine eutrophication are investigated applying life cycle assessment. Results show that at full scale biogas production from C. intestinalis reduces GHG emissions by more than 65% compared to fossil transportation fuels. In addition, the results show that accounting for the system consequences of other products and services such as biofertilizer replacing mineral fertilizers and decreased marine eutrophication largely increase the environmental benefits provided by the concept. Approx. 3.7 g-Neq/MJbiogas of nitrogen are removed from the marine environment during the cultivation of C. intestinalis.
Related Topics
Physical Sciences and Engineering Energy Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment
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