Monday, April 19, 2010
LL Conference Facility (Hilton Clearwater Beach)
Microalgaehave been shown to produce high levels of biomass per unit land area in comparison to other plant materials. Such biomass may comprise a significant portion of lipids as a feedstock for biodiesel production or large quantities (w/w) of hydrolysable cellulosic or starchy biomass. Here, we report on work using natural microalgae isolates from local wastewater and their production of quantities of lipids and fermentable sugars (subsequent to a hydrolysis step) under different growth conditions. Comparative data are presented from growth, under similar conditions, for typed species (e.g. Neochloris oleoabundans (UTEX 1185) and Botryococcus sudeticus (UTEX 2629)). Results include performance measures of growth and production from residual nutrients residing in secondarily-treated municipal wastewater and such wastewater supplemented with additional nutrients.