Study on Potential of Local Microalgae Strains for CO2 Biofixation from Thermal Power Plants of Iran

Global warming is thought to be caused mainly by the emission of carbon dioxide (CO2) and thermal power plants being responsible for about 7% of global CO2 emissions. Microalgae can reduce CO2 emissions from thermal power plants by biofixation of carbon dioxide discharged from a flue-gas stack. Capturing and utilization of the carbon dioxide by microalgae has emerged as a promising technology to help reduce emissions from power plants. Since there is a need to explore alternative energy sources to meet the future energy demand in a sustainable way, algae (macro and micro) could be a potential feed stock for biofuels and other co-products such as animal feed and chemicals. Microalgae have emerged as a source that can play the dual role of bioremediation and generation of biomass for biofuel production (especially biodiesel and bioethanol a renewable bioenergy source). The present research aimed to investigate the Iran’s native microalgae strains such as Dunaliella tertiolecta, Chlorella vulgaris and Scenedesmus obliquus for this purpose. The required data of each local microalgae including growth parameters, media of cultivation, biomass composition, productivity and nutrients balance were already gathered. We have studied the feasibility of using these microalgae in different power plants of Iran such as Behistun, Ramin, Kazerun, Bandar Abbas and Shahid Mohammad Montazeri power plants in order to reduce the CO2 emissions. According to the obtained results on CO2 fixation and biomass production, the most appropriate options were selected as the dominant species.

Keywords:

Power plant , Microalgae , CO2 , Biofixation