ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTION Theoretical Modeling of Algal Productivity and Carbon Capture Potential in Selected Places of Odisha, India Bunushree Behera 1 • Nazimdhine Aly 1 • Balasubramanian Paramasivan 1 Received: 2 August 2018 / Accepted: 17 May 2020 Ó The Institution of Engineers (India) 2020 Abstract Microalgae hold a promising potential for gen- erating third-generation biofuel as well as for biological carbon sequestration. However, translation of algal tech- nology to field scale is often hindered by a lack of appro- priate data and economic challenges. Pertaining to these issues, a pre-estimate of the site-specific productivity of microalgae at realistic scenario is necessary. Five potential sites (Rourkela, Sambalpur, Bhubaneswar, Gopalpur and Balasore) in the Odisha state of India were chosen for predicting the average biomass, lipid productivity and carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) capture capacity of microalgae. Meteorological data averaged over 21 years (Jan’ 1985– Dec’ 2005) were fed into the biophysical empirical equa- tions for estimating the biomass and lipid productivity of microalgae along with the CO 2 sequestration capacity. Maximum average biomass and lipid productivity was projected for Sambalpur, corresponding to an aerial value of 63.03 g/m 2 /day and 21.89 ml/m 2 /day, respectively, in the month of April with CO 2 sequestration potential of 17.87 g/m 2 /day. Such preliminary site-specific theoretical estimates would facilitate policy making for realizing the potential of large-scale algal cultivation. Keywords Biomass productivity Á Carbon sequestration Á Mathematical modeling Á Microalgae Á Lipid productivity Á Solar radiation List of Symbols E Solar Full-spectrum solar energy that accounts to the total amount of incident solar insolation PAR Photosynthetically active radiation, which relates to the amount of solar radiation (400–700 nm) used for photosynthesis c Velocity of light (2.998e8 m/s) h Plank’s constant (6.63e-34 J/s) k Wavelength of light (nm) E Photons Energy of photons (kJ/mol) HHV Higher heating value of microalgae (36.6 kJ/mol of photon) n photon Number of photons required to convert 1 mol of CO 2 to biomass Energy of PAR Amount of energy (kJ/mol of photon) corresponding to PAR (400–700 nm) g Transmission Amount of light transmitted onto the surface of microalgae a Coefficient of light absorption by microalgae g Capture Amount of incident solar energy captured by microalgae and converted into biomass g Photosynthesis Photon conversion efficiency, which denotes the maximum amount of light energy that can be converted into biomass and is constant for all microalgal species g Photon utilisation Capacity of utilization of the available photon energy by microalgae r Fraction of energy used by microalgae for respiration & Balasubramanian Paramasivan biobala@nitrkl.ac.in 1 National Institute of Technology Rourkela, Rourkela, India 123 J. Inst. Eng. India Ser. A https://doi.org/10.1007/s40030-020-00450-8