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Life cycle assessment of integrated seawater agriculture in the Arabian (Persian) Gulf as a potential food and aviation biofuel resource

  • LCA FOR AGRICULTURAL PRACTICES AND BIOBASED INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTS
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The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment Aims and scope Submit manuscript

An Erratum to this article was published on 12 December 2016

Abstract

Purpose

Prospective evaluation of the lifecycle impacts of aviation biofuel production in Abu Dhabi, UAE based on a production system that integrates aquaculture, saltwater agriculture, and mangrove silviculture, termed an Integrated Seawater Energy Agriculture System (ISEAS) in order to investigate its energetic and environmental potential compared to conventional fuels.

Methods

We compare the hydroprocessed renewable jet fuel (HRJ) produced from ISEAS against fossil jet fuel using a life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology. Based on a detailed description of the production process, we use data from a wide-ranging literature review and experimental results from the specific location to make informed assumptions for the range of the process inputs and yields. We then analyze several process configuration scenarios with different ranges.

Results and discussion

ISEAS can produce aviation biofuels, electricity, and food while afforesting coastal desert land, acting as a long-term sink for carbon, minimizing freshwater consumption, and having beneficial land use impacts when compared to fossil jet fuel production. Based on a sensitivity analysis, we show that ISEAS HRJ emits 38 to 68% less greenhouse gases than fossil jet fuel and yields an overall positive net energy balance under all scenarios except one with an extensive use of desalinated water.

Conclusions

ISEAS offers a promising pathway for integrating aquaculture and seawater agriculture in arid regions. It is essentially a process to sustainably augment aquaculture-based products by using its waste as a biofuel resource. Achieving positive emissions results depend critically on minimizing freshwater use, maximizing biomass yield and to a lesser extent the performance of biomass gasification.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by a Boeing Company grant and the Sustainable Bioengy Research Consortium of Masdar Institute. We acknowledge the contribution of Dr. Michael Timmons of Cornell Univesity and Edward P. Glenn of the University of Arizona for providing insights on halophyte cultivation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. SolarCity, San Francisco, CA, USA

    Brian Warshay

  2. Center for Sustainable Development, College of Arts and Sciences, Qatar University, P.O. Box 2713, Doha, Qatar

    J. Jed Brown

  3. Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, P.O. Box 54224, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

    Sgouris Sgouridis

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  1. Brian Warshay
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  2. J. Jed Brown
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  3. Sgouris Sgouridis
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sgouris Sgouridis.

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Responsible editor: Seungdo Kim

The original version of this article was revised: The name of the author J. Jed Brown was rendered wrongly.

An erratum to this article is available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11367-016-1240-4.

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Warshay, B., Brown, J.J. & Sgouridis, S. Life cycle assessment of integrated seawater agriculture in the Arabian (Persian) Gulf as a potential food and aviation biofuel resource. Int J Life Cycle Assess 22, 1017–1032 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11367-016-1215-5

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