Harnessing of bioenergy from different mixed microalgae consortia obtained from natural ecological niches

This study investigated the potential and possibility of three mixed microalgae consortia collected from various ecological niches towards bioenergy production of H₂ and CH₄ in batch experiments under mesophilic conditions. Three different consortia collected from wastewater treatment plant, in an open pond system and in the lake bed possess different compositions and characteristics during their growth under a light intensity of 8000 lux and are referred as OP1, OP2 and LB. After 40 days of cultivation, collected wet biomass is directly used for H₂ and CH₄ fermentation and the results indicated that, consortia OP1 is good for H₂ production whereas consortia OP2 and LB showed nearly the similar CH₄ production performances. Peak hydrogen production rate (HPR) and methane production rate (MPR) were achieved as 289 mL/L-d and 97 mL/L-d, respectively from consortia OP1 and OP2. The energy production from this process could significantly contribute towards CO₂ emission reduction. Besides, this approach could be helpful in choosing the consortia towards which kind of biofuel (either H₂ or CH₄) production.