Effects of various factors on biomass, bioethanol, and biohydrogen production in green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii

Abstract

Extensive usage of nonrenewable fossil fuels has urged the community to look into alternate renewable energy such as biofuels. The production of biofuels, including bioethanol, biohydrogen, biodiesel, etc., from crop plants again leads to food insecurity. Hence, the usage of algae, particularly green algae, is the best alternatives to generate biofuels. In the present study, the effects of various factors involved in algal growth in turn bioethanol and biohydrogen production levels were established by choosing green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Specifically, we crosschecked the effect of heavy metal Cobalt (Co), sodium bicarbonate, and Tris-acetate-phosphate (TAP) medium without Tris base on growth and biofuel production from C. reinhardtii under in vitro conditions. In the current work, 0.2 mg/l Co in TAP medium enhanced the growth and biomass in C. reinhardtii cultures. Furthermore, ethanol production levels were improved in feedstocks grown in TAP medium with 2.0 mg/l sodium bicarbonate. In another experiment, hydrogen production was high in full TAP medium with Tris (trisaminomethane) base when compared to TAP without Tris base. In conclusion, this work may be useful to improve the biomass and biofuel production in green algae.