CO2 balance for biodiesel production from microalgae

Abstract

As global climate change due to increased atmospheric CO2 becomes a greater concern, alternative energy sources such as biodiesel derived from microalgae are being explored as a way to reduce CO2 outputs. I investigated the extent to which microalgal biodiesel production is a carbon neutral process. The total carbon and CO2 input to the system was compared against the total carbon and CO2 emitted during the production process. Although biodiesel production was found to be carbon neutral, excluding carbon release from energy use, it was found to emit more CO2 than is consumed and therefore is not CO2 neutral. While microalgal biodiesel provides several advantages over petroleum based fuels, the production of microalgal biodiesel is not a CO2 neutral process.