A Newly Isolated Green Alga, Scenedesmus acuminatus, from Thailand with Efficient Hydrogen Production

Abstract

Biological H2 production is considered the most environmentally friendly route of producing H2, fullling the goals of recycling renewable resources and producing clean energy. It has attracted global attention because of its potential to become an inexhaustible, low cost, renewable source of clean energy and appears as an alternative fuel. This paper presents laboratory results of biological production of hydrogen by green alga was isolated from freshwater fish pond in Sansai, Chiang Mai province, Thailand. Under light microscope, this green alga was identified as belonging to the genus Scenedesmus and species S. acuminatus. The successful culture was established and grown in poultry litter effluent medium (PLEM) under a light intensity of 37.5 mmol-1m2 sec-1 and a temperature of 25°C. The nutrient requirements and process conditions that encourage the growth of dense and healthy algal cultures were explored. The highest H2 was produced when cultivated cells in PLEM for 21 hours under light and then incubated under anaerobic adaptation for 4 hours.