Microalgae bioprospecting at NREL

Multimedia · Mon Jan 10 00:00:00 EST 2011

OSTI ID:1048049

Elliott, Lee

Prospecting for elusive fast-growing, oily microalgae is a soggy, muddy, rewarding job for NREL researcher Lee Elliott. Not only do algae grow in unlikely settings, but their ability to convert the light they receive into biomass has the potential to outperform that of land plants. Trees, grasses and shrubs typically are not very efficient in capturing and converting the sun's energy into biomass, but some algae are believed to be capable of much higher efficiencies, with some scientists thinking ideal strains may be able to approach the maximum theoretical photosynthetic efficiency under the right conditions.

• Research Organization: National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• OSTI ID: 1048049
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION
ALGAE
MICROALGAE
BIOPROSPECT
NREL
DOE
BIOMASS
RENEWABLE
ENERGY
LAB
DEPARTMENT
OF
ALGAE-BASED
FUEL
PROMOTION
ACT