Development of an Effective Microalgae Cultivation System Utilizing CO2 in the Air by Injecting CaCO3

Recognized as the third-generation biomass of the future, microalgae are increasingly viewed as a promising solution for the sustainable production of biofuels, often referred to as “green gold.” Extensive research is being conducted across the upstream, midstream, and downstream sectors to develop...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inEnergies (Basel) Vol. 17; no. 17; p. 4475
Main Authors Pyo, Seonju, Yu, Byung-Sun, Han, Kyudong
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Basel MDPI AG 01.09.2024
Subjects
Algae
Alternative energy
ambient air CO2
Atmosphere
Biomass
biomass production
CaCO3
Carbon dioxide
Carbon sequestration
carbonic anhydrase enzyme
Climate change
Emissions
Enzymes
Global warming
Lipids
microalgae
Microorganisms
United States > US
South Korea
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:Recognized as the third-generation biomass of the future, microalgae are increasingly viewed as a promising solution for the sustainable production of biofuels, often referred to as “green gold.” Extensive research is being conducted across the upstream, midstream, and downstream sectors to develop fundamental technologies that enable efficient and economical large-scale microalgae cultivation. Recent studies suggest that microalgae-based biofuels have the potential to meet global energy demands. However, challenges such as spatial constraints in site selection and the high cost of transporting CO2—an essential component for pH regulation and photosynthesis—pose obstacles. Here, this study demonstrates that by supplementing air-only medium with CaCO3, Chlorella sorokiniana can effectively utilize airborne CO2 to produce biomass. In laboratory-scale culture conditions supplied only with air, adding 5 mM CaCO3 (pH 7.8) could maintain the pH stably compared to the untreated conditions (pH 9.5) and improved the biomass concentration and lipid content by 17.68-fold and 9.58-fold, respectively. In bench-scale conditions, cultures supplemented with 5 mM CaCO3 exhibited a 9-fold increase in the biomass and a 7.15-fold increase in the lipid concentrations compared to those cultivated with air alone. With microalgae emerging as an essential resource for future generations, cultivation technology utilizing CaCO3 will be a critical technology that enables commercial-scale microalgae cultivation using only air, without artificial CO2 supply facilities.
ISSN:1996-1073
1996-1073
DOI:10.3390/en17174475