earticle

영어

From the time of the industrial revolution, fossil fuel has been the main source of energy, acting as a stimulant for many modernized industries. Despite the positive changes fossil fuel has brought to the mankind, it has produced carbon emission, facilitating the rising temperature of Earth resulting in global warming. Limited supply of fossil fuel has also hastened the search for alternative sources of energy. Biofuel from microalgae is recently gaining attention for its environmental friendliness, for example CO2 fixation during cultivation and high lipid content. Two strains of microalgae are used, Botryococcus braunii and Nannochloropsis oceanica, for their high potential as biofuel sources. Different colored settings of LED light, Green, Red, White, Blue, Red: Blue = 5:1, Red: Blue 3:1, Red: Blue = 1:1 were controlled to investigate the effects of mixture of colors on growth and lipid content of microalgae. Spectrophotometry and fluorescence spectrophotometry were used to measure the growth and lipid content of each microalgae strain. The experiment was conducted over the period of eight days, with measurements done on day 0,2,4,6, and 8. The optimum color of light differed slightly between strains, with B. braunii Red: Blue = 5:1 and N. oceanica red. The mixture of red and blue LED light had the better growth and lipid content than the single colored lights, red and blue mixed light with 18% more lipid content than white light in Botryococcus braunii. The ultimate light conditions for the cultivation of microalgae vary among species, but the best outcomes can be expected from using a mixture of red and blue lights. To find the optimum light ratio for each microalgae strain, further research and experiments using various ratio mixtures of red and blue lights are essential.