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Design and Analysis of Offshore Macroalgae Biorefineries

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Biofuels from Algae

Part of the book series: Methods in Molecular Biology ((MIMB,volume 1980))

Abstract

Displacing fossil fuels and their derivatives with renewables, and increasing sustainable food production are among the major challenges facing the world in the coming decades. A possible, sustainable direction for addressing this challenge is the production of biomass and the conversion of this biomass to the required products through a complex system coined biorefinery. Terrestrial biomass and microalgae are possible sources; however, concerns over net energy balance, potable water use, environmental hazards, and uncertainty in the processing technologies raise questions regarding their actual potential to meet the anticipated food, feed, and energy challenges in a sustainable way. Alternative sustainable sources for biorefineries are macroalgae grown and processed offshore. However, implementation of the offshore biorefineries requires detailed analysis of their technological, economic, and environmental performance. In this chapter, the basic principles of marine biorefineries design are shown. The methods to integrate thermodynamic efficiency, investment, and environmental aspects are discussed. The performance improvement by development of new cultivation methods that fit macroalgae physiology and development of new fermentation methods that address macroalgae unique chemical composition is shown.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Porter School of Environmental Studies, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel

    Alexander Golberg

  2. School of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel

    Alexander Liberzon

  3. Department of Computer Science, Technion, Haifa, Israel

    Edward Vitkin & Zohar Yakhini

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  1. Alexander Golberg
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  2. Alexander Liberzon
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  3. Edward Vitkin
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  4. Zohar Yakhini
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Correspondence to Alexander Golberg .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Finnish Environment Institute, Helsinki, Finland

    Kristian Spilling

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Golberg, A., Liberzon, A., Vitkin, E., Yakhini, Z. (2018). Design and Analysis of Offshore Macroalgae Biorefineries. In: Spilling, K. (eds) Biofuels from Algae. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 1980. Humana, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/7651_2018_127

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/7651_2018_127

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