Algal fertigation – an innovative agronomic approach to reduce greenhouse gas emission from crops production (original) (raw)
Environmental Research Letters
View the article online for updates and enhancements. Related content Global economic consequences of deploying bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) Matteo Muratori, Katherine Calvin, Marshall Wise et al.-Methane and nitrous oxide emissions affect the life-cycle analysis of algal biofuels Edward D Frank, Jeongwoo Han, Ignasi Palou-Rivera et al.-Impacts of European livestock production: nitrogen, sulphur, phosphorus and greenhouse gas emissions, land-use, water eutrophication and biodiversity Adrian Leip, Gilles Billen, Josette Garnier et al.-Recent citations Development of algae biorefinery concepts for biofuels and bioproducts; a perspective on process-compatible products and their impact on cost-reduction Lieve M. L. Laurens et al-Geoengineering, marine microalgae, and climate stabilization in the 21st century Charles H. Greene et al
Algal compost – toward sustainable fertilization
Reviews in Inorganic Chemistry, 2013
In the present paper, the possibilities of the utilization of large amounts of beach-cast seaweeds are discussed. It is important to examine the methods of removing and processing algal biomass and find a manner of its cost-effective utilization in order to obtain a value-added product. A review of composting methods of algal biomass is presented. Compost from seaweeds can find several applications, for example, as an alternative to conventional fertilizers. Algae have been used for centuries as a natural fertilizer in many coastal areas because they are known to be rich in nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. Moreover, the biomass is characterized by the high content of trace elements and metabolites. There are different ways of management for algae for their use in agriculture. The most common is composting of algal biomass, for example, in piles. The advantages (i.e., high content of plant nutrients, organic components, etc.) and disadvantages (i.e., heavy metal content and salin...
Greenhouse Gas Control Technologies - 6th International Conference, 2003
In 1960, Oswald and Golueke [1] presented a conceptual techno-economic analysis, "The Biological Transformation of Solar Energy", proposing the use of large-scale raceway ponds to cultivate microalgal on wastewater nutrients and then to anaerobically ferment the algal biomass to methane fuel. The methane was to be converted into electricity, with the CO 2-containing flue gas recycled to the ponds to support algal production. Over the past forty years a great deal of research has been carried out on this and similar concepts for microalgae fuels production and CO 2 utilization. However, major technical challenges have limited the practical application of this technology: the difficulties of maintaining selected algal species in large-scale production systems, the lower-than anticipated biomass productivities and methane yields, and the high costs of harvesting the algal biomass and of the overall process. These limitations can, however, be overcome by applying such processes where additional economic benefits, such as wastewater treatment or nutrient recovery, are available and where relatively large systems (> 100 hectares) can be deployed, allowing economics of scale. One such site is the Salton Sea in Southern California, into which over 10,000 tons of nitrogen and phosphate fertilizers are discharged annually by three small rivers draining large tracts of irrigated agriculture. Removal of nutrients from these inflows is required to avoid eutrophication of this large (some 900 km 2), shallow, inland sea, with resulting massive algal blooms, fish kills and other environmental impacts. Nutrient capture could be accomplished with some 1,000 hectares of algal pond systems, with the algal biomass harvested and converted into fuels and the residual sludge recycled to agriculture for its fertilizer value. A techno-economic analysis of this process, based on nutrient removal defraying a fraction of the costs, suggests that such a process could mitigate several hundred thousand tons of fossil CO 2 emissions at below $10/ton of CO 2-C equivalent.
Water and food research are priorities for government. Addressing hunger and malnutrition together with water and sanitation is a cost-effective way of improving social welfare, but also promotes sustainability in water utilisation and agriculture. The provision of adequate water and sanitation as well as job creation are issues faced by smaller towns in South Africa and particularly in areas such as the Eastern Cape. These issues can be addressed simultaneously by water recycling, reuse, residue utilisation and waste beneficiation. The Integrated Algal Ponding System (IAPS) has been developed as low-cost yet highly effective wastewater treatment process. This treatment system also presents opportunities for production of value-added products from the algal by-product. The residual algal biomass contains nutrients which provide a basis for downstream beneficiation applications such as horticulture, community gardens or high-value foliar feeds. The integration of these factors has the potential to change the economics of small wastewater treatment plants from purely utility value to include opportunities for social development and job creation. This paper details the investigation of this application of algae from the IAPS water treatment process in horticulture as part of a Water Research Commission funded project.
2015
Foliar microbiological fertilizer Algafix is represented by a mixture of living green algae species Scenedesmus obtisausculus who are able to assimilate different hormones and antioxidants that are transmitted through the leaves of the plant, stimulating growth and resistance to biotic and abiotic stress, and having an important influence for increased production. This paper presents an experience of establishing optimal Algafix dosage of winter rape and spring barley, with four graduations or doses of 1.5 l/ha, 2 l/ha, 2.5 l/ha and 3 l/ha, which were compared with the control - untreated variant. We watched both morphological and physiological differences on the characteristics of plants in the experimental variants, and production quality indexes obtained, and the correlations established between doses of biofertilizers and measured parameters. In the same time, we studied how the doses of biofertilizers influence the water and mineral elements root absorption by plants grown in t...
Impact of Algal Addition to Mature Compost as Affected by Different Moisture Levels
Abstract: According to the potentiality of cyanobacteria to fix atmospheric nitrogen and excrete a great number of substances that improve plant growth and productivity, the current study was conducted to use cyanobacteria as compost supplier; especially nitrogen element and to encourage the compost microorganisms activities in the purpose to increase the decomposition rate of mature compost and consequently the availability of many nutrients, that in turn help in plant growth. Changes in compost properties, including total and available (NH4-N & NO3-N) nitrogen content, organic matter content, C: N ratio and total microbial activity were examined due to the addition of two species of cyanobacteria (Spirulina maxima Nostoc muscorum); which applied either alone and mixed in two rates (5 or 10 ml / 100 g compost); during two months of incubation, using three rates of moisture content in the form of liquid : solid ratios (1: 4, 1: 2 and 1: 1). Compost microbial activities, in terms of dehydrogenase enzyme activity, were enhanced due to applying cyanobacteria. These activities led to accelerating the decomposition rate of compost and increasing the availability of inorganic forms of nitrogen content (NH4-N & NO3-N) to high extent in some treatments. C: N ratio of compost treated with algae was reduced due to increase in total nitrogen content of compost, compared with the non treated compost (control). In this study, moisture content proved to be a dominant factor impacting both algal and microbial activity of the compost. Liquid: solid ratio of 1: 2 could be considered as the optimal ratio for algal activity, which affected positively all tested parameters.
Applied Energy, 2015
Biofuels from microalgae are currently the subject of many research projects to determine their feasibility as a replacement for fossil fuels. In order to be a successful candidate, there must be enough fertilizers available to support large scale production. Commercial fertilizers are available for biofuel production from the world fertilizer surplus, but due to nitrogen and phosphorus future production limitations, biofuels would ideally not use any of these resources to be a long term sustainable fuel. Nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium requirements were determined for two algal species, Chlorella and Nannochloropsis, to produce 19 billion liters per year (BLPY). At this scale, both algal species would use 32-49%, 32-49% and less than 1% of the world surplus values of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, respectively. Nutrient recycling options and alternative sources of nutrients were evaluated to determine their potential contribution of lowering the synthetic fertilizer requirement. Results show that all of the recycling scenarios reduce the nutrient requirements, but catalytic hydrothermal gasification has the largest reduction of 95% of the nitrogen and 90% of the phosphorus. Contributions from all alternative sources can also provide only 5% or less of the required nitrogen when produced in the gulf region. For phosphorus in the same region, poultry concentrated animal feeding operations can provide up to 28% of the requirement of Chlorella. To find the least amount of nitrogen that may be used, catalytic hydrothermal gasification was combined with all of the alternative nutrients available in the gulf region. The maximum amount of biofuels that could be produced in this location without using any synthetic fertilizers is 50±20 BLPY from Chlorella and 45±19 BLPY from Nannochloropsis. This study shows that the nutrient requirement for biofuel production from microalgae will not be a limitation if recycling methods within the process chain and alternative sources of nutrients are utilized.
Algal biofuel production and mitigation potential in India
2013
Energy and energy services are the backbone of growth and development in India and is increasingly dependent upon the use of fossil based fuels that lead to greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions and related concerns. Algal biofuels are being evolved as carbon (C)-neutral alternative biofuels. Algae are photosynthetic microorganisms that convert sunlight, water and carbon dioxide (CO2) to various sugars and lipids Tri-Acyl-Glycols (TAG) and show promise as an alternative, renewable and green fuel source for India. Compared to land based oilseed crops algae have potentially higher yields (5–12 g/m2/d) and can use locations and water resources not suited for agriculture. Within India, there is little additional land area for algal cultivation and therefore needs to be carried out in places that are already used for agriculture, e.g. flooded paddy lands (20 Mha) with village level technologies and on saline wastelands (3 Mha). Cultivating algae under such conditions requires novel multi-tier, multi-cyclic approaches of sharing land area without causing threats to food and water security as well as demand for additional fertilizer resources by adopting multi-tier cropping (algae-paddy) in decentralized open pond systems. A large part of the algal biofuel production is possible in flooded paddy crop land before the crop reaches dense canopies, in wastewaters (40 billion litres per day), in salt affected lands and in nutrient/diversity impoverished shallow coastline fishery. Mitigation will be achieved through avoidance of GHG, C-capture options and substitution of fossil fuels. Estimates made in this paper suggest that nearly half of the current transportation petro-fuels could be produced at such locations without disruption of food security, water security or overall sustainability. This shift can also provide significant mitigation avenues. The major adaptation needs are related to socio-technical acceptance for reuse of various wastelands, wastewaters and waste-derived energy and by-products through policy and attitude change efforts.