Potential of microalgae isolate kelp i (Brawijaya Museum pond) and isolate kelp IV (Selorejo reservoir) as biodiesel feedstock

Abstract

Indonesian government has committed to increase exploration of wasters potential. Microalgae is an excellent water organism which high potential converted to biodiesel. Moreover, microalgae have a better photosynthetic ability than ordinary plants. Thus, microalgae can take part in preventing global warming by reducing carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere. Recent research has successfully isolated several microalgae isolates from water area in East Java. However, they had not been characterized yet. Therefore, the aim of this research was to characterize two of those isolates in terms of potential as a feedstock of biodiesel production. The results showed that based on phenotype analysis, it could be concluded that Kelp I and Kelp IV were Prochloron sp. and Chlamydomonas sp. Prochloron sp. grew up optimally within 16-18 days, while Chlamydomonas sp. had an optimum growth at 13-18 days. The lipid yield of dried microalgae is 31.85% and 46.86% for Prochloron sp. and Chlamydomonas sp., respectively. Fatty acids composition in both Prochloron sp. and Chlamydomonas sp. were dominated by palmitic acid, which is very good for biodiesel synthesis.