In The Deep: Influence of Urea on Nannochloropsis oculata Growth

Abstract

The focus of the Biofuels Research and Aquatic Quality Collaborative (BiRAQC) research group is to work on harnessing algae as resources for biofuels (French 2021). The biofuel technology using algae is an alternate source of fuel for the future. Microalgae are rich in oils, which can be converted into renewable fuels by transesterification. We made photoreceptors and are testing algae growth with different amounts of Urea, and measured cell count and chlorophyll content. The results showed that the most algae growth occurred in the photoreceptor with 200 uL of Urea. Our findings are important because it shows the effects of Urea on algae, Nannochloropsis oculata, that hasn’t been tested under these conditions in previous studies.