Multi-criteria analysis of microalgae production in Iran

Abstract

With deployment of renewable energy utilization, biofuels have an important role in government policies. Microalgae is an important and promising biofuel source that has high potential for production in some areas such as Iran. Studies show that Iran’s climate is suitable for cultivation of microalgae. The aim of the current work is to first identify the most important criteria for production of microalgae. Then, the best areas for cultivation of microalgae are ranked based on the identified criteria and expert opinions using the analytic hierarchy process method. The main criteria identified are land, climate, water and nutrients, and the existing infrastructure needed to cultivate algae. The main contributors for selecting the best areas for algae production are climate, and water and natural resources. The overall results show that the Caspian Sea and Persian Gulf are the best candidates for algae production. A comparison is also carried out between the present study and the previous study by the authors to explain more about the role of criteria in the site selection.

Keywords:

• Microalgae
• biofuels
• Iran
• analytic hierarchy process

Acknowledgment

This work has been developed in the Energy Policy and Modeling Laboratory at the University of Tehran.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Table 1. Comparison between the amount of oil and land necessary for harvesting algae and conventional raw materials [9].