Evaluation of Phaeodactylum tricornutum as potential biomass and biofuels in the Venice lagoon area

Our project focuses on potential available biomass in the Venice Lagoon area for the possible development of a large scale biofuel production plant. In this paper some promising environmental friendly renewable energy options are presented and discussed. In the first part of the research we evaluated the potential of the diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum as a possible biomass source for biodiesel. With this goal a mathematical model has been developed to estimate the photosynthetic and respiration rate of P. tricornutum in a laboratory scale photobioreactor. The model explains the photosynthesis-irradiance responses observed under various conditions of temperature and irradiance. The target is to determine the optimum design and the best operative conditions for the production of the P. tricornutum biomass by outdoor raceway track ponds and/or tubular photobioreactor. Approaches for making microalgae biodiesel economically competitive with petrodiesel are presented too.