Techno-economic feasibility study of macroalgae for anaerobic digestion

Abstract

The techno-economic feasibility of brown macroalgae biomass species Saccharina latissima (S. Latissima) for anaerobic digestion (AD) in North West Europe was investigated in this research. The feasibility of the biomass as a single feedstock and for co-digestion was tested. In the techno economic analysis, AD of S. Latissima as a single digestion feedstock was found to be economically not viable due to the relatively high price of the macroalgae biomass. However, co-digestion with sugar beet — vegetable mix combined with a gate fee of 29 Euros per tonne was found to be economically viable with the macroalgae biomass priced at 50 Euros per tonne.