Assessing the feasibility of using municipal wastewater for aiding algal oil production: From a spatial coupling perspective.

Competing over limited freshwater resources has been a major challenge in sustaining algal oil production. To tackle this issue, municipal wastewater (MWW) is proposed to aid algal oil production but with unknown feasibility. This study aims to investigate the change in algal oil production in response to MWW distribution. Using California as a case, the result shows that the oil production is only 34% of what was proposed in a former study, with 29% to 74% of wastewater being derived to meet 4% to 9% of refinery water demand. There is no substantial increase in oil production beyond a MWW distribution distance longer than 24 km. The analytical framework developed in this study requires minimal data in climate and topographic inputs and can be applied at a global level to identify the most promising areas where algal oil production can be sustained by municipal wastewater. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]