Carbon Increases Oil Production from Algae

SciTechDaily.com
June 18, 2012 by Staff

By feeding algae more carbon, scientists at the Brookhaven National Laboratory increased the microbes’ overall metabolism, resulting in increased oil production as the organisms continued to grow.

Upton, New York — Overturning two long-held misconceptions about oil production in algae, scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory show that ramping up the microbes’ overall metabolism by feeding them more carbon increases oil production as the organisms continue to grow. The findings — published online in the journal Plant and Cell Physiology on May 28, 2012 — may point to new ways to turn photosynthetic green algae into tiny “green factories” for producing raw materials for alternative fuels.

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