Finding the right substitute: Can urea take fertilizers place for an algae growth supplement?

Peter Lester, Allison Lawrence, Peyton Mobbs, Mckenna Laminack, Avery Melton

Abstract


Abstract: Fertilizers can help algae growth, but also leads to eutrophication in local bodies of water (Clarens 2009). So, urea is a possible alternative to this problem, because urea holds nutrients that can benefit algae growth, but won’t lead to eutrophication, and our group predicted that when increasing urea usage, this will increase algae growth, up until a maximum point. We had a control group of no urea, then used three experimental groups of 50,100, and 200 microliters of urea. The results showed the highest amount of algae growth at the amount of 100 microliters of urea, so this shows a “peak” for algae cultivation when dealing with urea supplements. The results of this experiment, and others like this are going to be very important in the near future, due to the increasing demand for biofuels.  


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References


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