Barbot Yann Nicolas, Al-Ghaili Hashem, Benz Roland
Department of Life Sciences and Chemistry, Jacobs University Bremen, Campus Ring 1, Bremen 28759, Germany.
Mar Drugs. 2016 Jun 21;14(6):120. doi: 10.3390/md14060120.
The increased use of terrestrial crops for biofuel production and the associated environmental, social and ethical issues have led to a search for alternative biomass materials. Terrestrial crops offer excellent biogas recovery, but compete directly with food production, requiring farmland, fresh water and fertilizers. Using marine macroalgae for the production of biogas circumvents these problems. Their potential lies in their chemical composition, their global abundance and knowledge of their growth requirements and occurrence patterns. Such a biomass industry should focus on the use of residual and waste biomass to avoid competition with the biomass requirements of the seaweed food industry, which has occurred in the case of terrestrial biomass. Overabundant seaweeds represent unutilized biomass in shallow water, beach and coastal areas. These eutrophication processes damage marine ecosystems and impair local tourism; this biomass could serve as biogas feedstock material. Residues from biomass processing in the seaweed industry are also of interest. This is a rapidly growing industry with algae now used in the comestible, pharmaceutical and cosmetic sectors. The simultaneous production of combustible biomethane and disposal of undesirable biomass in a synergistic waste management system is a concept with environmental and resource-conserving advantages.
陆地作物用于生物燃料生产的增加以及相关的环境、社会和伦理问题，促使人们寻找替代生物质材料。陆地作物能很好地回收沼气，但直接与粮食生产竞争，需要农田、淡水和肥料。利用海洋大型藻类生产沼气可避免这些问题。其潜力在于它们的化学成分、全球丰富度以及对其生长需求和出现模式的了解。这样的生物质产业应专注于使用残余和废弃生物质，以避免与海藻食品产业的生物质需求产生竞争，陆地生物质的情况就是如此。过量的海藻是浅水区、海滩和沿海地区未被利用的生物质。这些富营养化过程破坏海洋生态系统并损害当地旅游业；这种生物质可作为沼气原料。海藻产业中生物质加工产生的残渣也值得关注。这是一个快速发展的产业，藻类目前用于食品、制药和化妆品领域。在协同废物管理系统中同时生产可燃生物甲烷和处理不良生物质是一个具有环境和资源节约优势的概念。
