Microalgae cultivation for the production of algae jet fuel in the Netherlands - A feasibility study

Abstract

Tata Steel produces the highest amount of CO2 emissions of all private companies in the Netherlands. To mitigate these flue gas emissions, Tata Steel and the Schiphol group are proposing to use 1 Mton of this CO2 for large scale microalgae cultivation in the Netherlands, with algae jet fuel (AJF) as the main targeted product. Although, literature indicates that algae based fuels are currently not commercially feasible, they show potential for the future. Furthermore, the potential of algae cultivation and processing in the Netherlands is currently unclear. To assess the potential of the microalgae to AJF cycle in the Netherlands, the technical design and costs of the three most used onshore cultivation methods and one pilot offshore cultivation method are investigated and modelled in this research. The considered reactor designs are the raceway open pond, tubular reactor, plate reactor and the offshore membrane enclosures for growing algae (OMEGA). Furthermore, the microalgae processing in the Netherlands to AJF and other valuable co-products is investigated and modelled for cost indications. The corrected total annual costs are: 1.14 to 1.20 billion euros/yr for the open pond system, 1.93 to 2.54 billion euros/yr for the tubular reactor, 2.64 to 3.73 billion euros/yr for the plate reactor and 6.97 to 7.29 billion euros/yr for the OMEGA reactor. These costs are divided into an initial investment and annual operating costs. For both the initial investment and operation, the costs are mainly driven by the algae cultivation. The revenue of the systems is based on the market size and price of the valuable algae biomass fractions (including AJF) obtained from processing, as well as the CO2 permit revenue. This research indicates that it is currently not commercially feasible to cultivate and process microalgae for AJF in the Netherlands. For the future, the open pond system could become commercially feasible if cost reductions are achieved, since the AJF price and the CO2 price needed for a commercially feasible system in the future are highly unlikely. Furthermore, a revenue assessment indicates that the AJF fraction has an insignificant value compared to the revenue created from the co-products. Therefore, future research should focus on the other fractions with a higher value and substantial market size to potentially obtain a commercially feasible system.