Chlamydomonas reinhardtii
Green Algaefrom Chlamydomonas reinhardtii (Amos, 1999). At the time, NREL researchers, in cooperation
with researchers at the University of California-Berkeley, were able to produce hydrogen using a
wild-type algae in a laboratory batch reactor system. Cells were first cultured, then switched to a
sulfur-deficient environment to produce hydrogen. The researchers have now managed to
produce hydrogen continuously using a series of two flow reactors. This is a critical process
advancement. This study takes a more detailed look at the effects that cell density, light
adsorption and light saturation have on algal hydrogen production. The previous study had
looked mainly at incident light intensities, batch cycles and light adsorption without directly
attempting to model the saturation effects seen in algal cultures."
