System-Level Sustainability Assessment for Economic Viability of Cellulosic Biofuel Manufacturing

In this dissertation, a framework to address economic and sustainability issues for cellulosic biofuel manufacturing is proposed. This novel framework can facilitate the technological readiness of cellulosic biofuel industrialization. Detailed research tasks of the proposed framework include the systematic modeling of material flow, energy consumption, cost, environmental impact, and waste utilization for cellulosic biofuel manufacturing. Specifically, system-level production and energy models are established considering the interrelationships among multiple manufacturing processes. In addition, a novel industrial symbiosis design is carried out to promote the material-utilization efficiency of cellulosic and algal biofuel manufacturing. New insights are acquired based on the applications of established models in economic viability analysis, energy-consumption evaluation, and waste-management approaches for cellulosic biofuel manufacturing. The findings based on case studies show that the established interrelations have great potential to reduce cost, enhance energy efficiency, and promote waste utilization without sacrificing biofuel yield.