IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/energy/v253y2022ics0360544222010544.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Economic feasibility and sustainability of commercial bioethanol from microalgal biomass: The case of Malaysia

Author

Listed:
  • Szulczyk, Kenneth R.
  • Tan, Yeng-May

Abstract

Malaysia fosters its economic growth with fossil fuels, which are not sustainable and raise atmospheric carbon dioxide. This study aims to assess the economic feasibility and sustainability of Chlorella vulgaris to create bioethanol for the transportation sector. A partial equilibrium model of the Malaysian agricultural markets is modified to include algal farms. The model forecasts agricultural prices, quantities, employment, fertiliser usage, and greenhouse gas emissions. The results suggest the algal farms produce 47.38 million litres of bioethanol in 2024 and peak at 163.67 million litres in 2044 for $0.65 per litre. This bioethanol offsets 0.11 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions from the transportation sector in 2024, which grows to 0.37 million tons in 2044. The microalga consumes the flue gas of coal and natural gas electric power plants – 0.31 million metric tons of carbon dioxide in 2024 and 1.09 million tons in 2044. The algal farms also sell dried slurry to the animal feed markets, which offsets the algal farm's high costs. The algal farms slightly raise Malaysia's agricultural commodity and fertiliser prices while boosting agricultural employment. The Malaysian government should subsidise algal bioethanol at $0.12 per litre.

Suggested Citation

  • Szulczyk, Kenneth R. & Tan, Yeng-May, 2022. "Economic feasibility and sustainability of commercial bioethanol from microalgal biomass: The case of Malaysia," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 253(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:253:y:2022:i:c:s0360544222010544
    DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2022.124151
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360544222010544
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.energy.2022.124151?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kenneth R. Szulczyk & Muhammad A. Cheema & Ross Cullen & Atiqur Rahman Khan, 2020. "Bioelectricity in Malaysia: economic feasibility, environmental and deforestation implications," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 64(2), pages 294-321, April.
    2. Packer, Mike, 2009. "Algal capture of carbon dioxide; biomass generation as a tool for greenhouse gas mitigation with reference to New Zealand energy strategy and policy," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(9), pages 3428-3437, September.
    3. Garcia-Nunez, Jesus Alberto & Ramirez-Contreras, Nidia Elizabeth & Rodriguez, Deisy Tatiana & Silva-Lora, Electo & Frear, Craig Stuart & Stockle, Claudio & Garcia-Perez, Manuel, 2016. "Evolution of palm oil mills into bio-refineries: Literature review on current and potential uses of residual biomass and effluents," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 99-114.
    4. Chia, Shir Reen & Ong, Hwai Chyuan & Chew, Kit Wayne & Show, Pau Loke & Phang, Siew-Moi & Ling, Tau Chuan & Nagarajan, Dillirani & Lee, Duu-Jong & Chang, Jo-Shu, 2018. "Sustainable approaches for algae utilisation in bioenergy production," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 129(PB), pages 838-852.
    5. Jayakumar, Saravanan & Yusoff, Mashitah M. & Rahim, Mohd Hasbi Ab. & Maniam, Gaanty Pragas & Govindan, Natanamurugaraj, 2017. "The prospect of microalgal biodiesel using agro-industrial and industrial wastes in Malaysia," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 33-47.
    6. Olaniyi, Oladokun Nafiu & Szulczyk, Kenneth R., 2020. "Estimating the economic damage and treatment cost of basal stem rot striking the Malaysian oil palms," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 116(C).
    7. Chong, Ting Yen & Cheah, Siang Aun & Ong, Chin Tye & Wong, Lee Yi & Goh, Chern Rui & Tan, Inn Shi & Foo, Henry Chee Yew & Lam, Man Kee & Lim, Steven, 2020. "Techno-economic evaluation of third-generation bioethanol production utilizing the macroalgae waste: A case study in Malaysia," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 210(C).
    8. Dickson, Rofice & Ryu, Jun-Hyung & Liu, J. Jay, 2018. "Optimal plant design for integrated biorefinery producing bioethanol and protein from Saccharina japonica: A superstructure-based approach," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 164(C), pages 1257-1270.
    9. Pedrozo, Vinícius B. & May, Ian & Zhao, Hua, 2017. "Exploring the mid-load potential of ethanol-diesel dual-fuel combustion with and without EGR," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 193(C), pages 263-275.
    10. Babatunde, Kazeem Alasinrin & Begum, Rawshan Ara & Said, Fathin Faizah, 2017. "Application of computable general equilibrium (CGE) to climate change mitigation policy: A systematic review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 61-71.
    11. del Río, Pablo G. & Domínguez, Elena & Domínguez, Viana D. & Romaní, Aloia & Domingues, Lucília & Garrote, Gil, 2019. "Third generation bioethanol from invasive macroalgae Sargassum muticum using autohydrolysis pretreatment as first step of a biorefinery," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 728-735.
    12. Castiblanco, Carmenza & Moreno, Alvaro & Etter, Andrés, 2015. "Impact of policies and subsidies in agribusiness: The case of oil palm and biofuels in Colombia," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 676-686.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Szulczyk, Kenneth R. & Ziaei, Sayyed Mahdi & Zhang, Changyong, 2021. "Environmental ramifications and economic viability of bioethanol production in Malaysia," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 172(C), pages 780-788.
    2. Szulczyk, Kenneth R. & Badeeb, Ramez Abubakr, 2022. "Nontraditional sources for biodiesel production in Malaysia: The economic evaluation of hemp, jatropha, and kenaf biodiesel," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 192(C), pages 759-768.
    3. Olaniyi, Oladokun Nafiu & Szulczyk, Kenneth R., 2022. "Estimating the economic impact of the white root rot disease on the Malaysian rubber plantations," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    4. Sanjeet Mehariya & Rahul Kumar Goswami & Pradeep Verma & Roberto Lavecchia & Antonio Zuorro, 2021. "Integrated Approach for Wastewater Treatment and Biofuel Production in Microalgae Biorefineries," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(8), pages 1-26, April.
    5. Kenneth R. Szulczyk, 2023. "Estimating the economic costs and mitigation of rice blast infecting the Malaysian paddy fields," SN Business & Economics, Springer, vol. 3(1), pages 1-21, January.
    6. Chong, Ting Yen & Cheah, Siang Aun & Ong, Chin Tye & Wong, Lee Yi & Goh, Chern Rui & Tan, Inn Shi & Foo, Henry Chee Yew & Lam, Man Kee & Lim, Steven, 2020. "Techno-economic evaluation of third-generation bioethanol production utilizing the macroalgae waste: A case study in Malaysia," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 210(C).
    7. Katsuyuki Nakano & Ken Yamagishi, 2021. "Impact of Carbon Tax Increase on Product Prices in Japan," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-19, April.
    8. Snunkhaem Echaroj & Hwai Chyuan Ong & Xiuhan Chen, 2020. "Simulation of Mixing Intensity Profile for Bioethanol Production via Two-Step Fermentation in an Unbaffled Agitator Reactor," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(20), pages 1-11, October.
    9. Wongwuttanasatian, Tanakorn & Jookjantra, Kittichai, 2020. "Effect of dual-frequency pulsed ultrasonic excitation and catalyst size for biodiesel production," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 152(C), pages 1220-1226.
    10. Niu, Tong & Yao, Xilong & Shao, Shuai & Li, Ding & Wang, Wenxi, 2018. "Environmental tax shocks and carbon emissions: An estimated DSGE model," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 9-17.
    11. Bu, Yan & Wang, Erda & Möst, Dominik & Lieberwirth, Martin, 2022. "How population migration affects carbon emissions in China: Factual and counterfactual scenario analysis," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 184(C).
    12. Park, Jeong-Hoon & Kim, Sang-Hyoun & Park, Hee-Deung & Kim, Jun Seok & Yoon, Jeong-Jun, 2014. "Simultaneous utilization of galactose and glucose by Saccharomyces cerevisiae mutant strain for ethanol production," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 213-218.
    13. Farrokhifar, Meisam & Nie, Yinghui & Pozo, David, 2020. "Energy systems planning: A survey on models for integrated power and natural gas networks coordination," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 262(C).
    14. Goh, Brandon Han Hoe & Ong, Hwai Chyuan & Cheah, Mei Yee & Chen, Wei-Hsin & Yu, Kai Ling & Mahlia, Teuku Meurah Indra, 2019. "Sustainability of direct biodiesel synthesis from microalgae biomass: A critical review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 59-74.
    15. Nicole Meinusch & Susanne Kramer & Oliver Körner & Jürgen Wiese & Ingolf Seick & Anita Beblek & Regine Berges & Bernhard Illenberger & Marco Illenberger & Jennifer Uebbing & Maximilian Wolf & Gunter S, 2021. "Integrated Cycles for Urban Biomass as a Strategy to Promote a CO 2 -Neutral Society—A Feasibility Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(17), pages 1-22, August.
    16. Shu, Qing & Zou, Wenqiang & He, Jiangfan & Lesmana, Herry & Zhang, Caixia & Zou, Laixi & Wang, Yao, 2019. "Preparation of the F−-SO42-/MWCNTs catalyst and kinetic studies of the biodiesel production via esterification reaction of oleic acid and methanol," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 836-845.
    17. Li, Wei & Lu, Can & Zhang, Yan-Wu, 2019. "Prospective exploration of future renewable portfolio standard schemes in China via a multi-sector CGE model," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 45-56.
    18. Leonidas Paroussos & Kostas Fragkiadakis & Panagiotis Fragkos, 2020. "Macro-economic analysis of green growth policies: the role of finance and technical progress in Italian green growth," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 160(4), pages 591-608, June.
    19. Farrelly, Damien J. & Everard, Colm D. & Fagan, Colette C. & McDonnell, Kevin P., 2013. "Carbon sequestration and the role of biological carbon mitigation: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 21(C), pages 712-727.
    20. Lewis C. King & Jeroen C. J. M. Bergh, 2021. "Potential carbon leakage under the Paris Agreement," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 165(3), pages 1-19, April.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Bioethanol; Microalgae; Animal feed; Chlorella vulgaris; Endogenous price model; Partial equilibrium model; Malaysia;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C61 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Mathematical Methods; Programming Models; Mathematical and Simulation Modeling - - - Optimization Techniques; Programming Models; Dynamic Analysis
    • O13 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Agriculture; Natural Resources; Environment; Other Primary Products
    • Q42 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Alternative Energy Sources

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:253:y:2022:i:c:s0360544222010544. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/energy .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.