Identifying opportunities to cultivate algae combined with wastewater recycling as a source of renewable energy in Southeast Asia

Tang, Marcus (2014) Identifying opportunities to cultivate algae combined with wastewater recycling as a source of renewable energy in Southeast Asia. Masters by Coursework thesis, Murdoch University.

Abstract

Water and energy are finite resources and our demand for these resources shape the world. The world’s population has access to only 0.007% of the total water on earth for consumption and close to 1.3 billion people do not have access to electricity. With the vast majority of the world’s population moving into urban areas, the need to develop the infrastructure and protect the resources that ensure the safe and stable access to water and energy is paramount. This is especially so for developing countries where access to these resources are critical in the alleviation from poverty.

Cities use large amounts of water and energy to sustain its growth, while producing large amounts of waste and wastewater. If these pollutants are not treated, it can cause serious health problems to the population. Therefore, coupling wastewater treatment with microalgae could be the solution. Algae, which is known as a “third generation biofuel”, offers many benefits over other biomass resources, such as shorter cultivation time, flexibility in types of biofuels, producing high yields and most importantly the ability to treat pollution. However, high production cost is one of the major challenges facing the industry.

The research paper explores the feasibility of microalgae production with wastewater treatment and the possibility of coupling wastewater treatment with microalgae production as a solution to create a reliable stream of renewable energy production.

Item Type:	Thesis (Masters by Coursework)
Murdoch Affiliation(s):	School of Engineering and Information Technology
Supervisor(s):	Urmee, Tania
URI:	http://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/id/eprint/26786

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