Research
One side benefit was the sequestration of waste CO2 from coal-fired power plants. The researchers were concerned with finding algae species which had a large lipid content, collecting over 3,000 North American species in their search. Work then focused on increasing their lipid content by reducing the supply of key nutrients, such as nitrogen and silicon.
Another key research aim was to validate the open pond system for mass production, resulting in the creation of 1,000 square metres (11,000 sq ft) pond systems in Roswell, New Mexico. While achieving the desired yields of 50 grams (1.8 oz) of algae per square meter per day, low temperatures were found to hamper yields.
Read more about this topic: Aquatic Species Program
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