title: Selection and adaptation of microalgae to growth in 100% unfiltered coal-fired flue gas.
abstract: Microalgae have been considered for biological carbon capture and sequestration to offset carbon emissions from fossil fuel combustion. This study shows that mixed biodiverse microalgal communities can be selected for and adapted to tolerate growth in 100% flue gas from an unfiltered coal-fired power plant that contained 11% CO2. The high SOx and NOx emissions required slow adaptation of microalgae over many months, with step-wise increases from 10% to 100% flue gas supplementation and phosphate buffering at higher concentrations. After a rapid decline in biodiversity over the first few months, community profiling revealed Desmodesmus spp. as the dominant microalgae. To the authors' knowledge this work is the first to demonstrate that up 100% unfiltered flue gas from coal-fired power generation can be used for algae cultivation. Implementation of serial passages over a range of photobioreactors may contribute towards the development of microalgal-mediated carbon capture and sequestration processes.
authors.affiliation: Environmental Science Department, Lahore College for Women University, Lahore, Pakistan; Algae Biotechnology Laboratory, School of Agriculture and Food Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland 4072, Australia.
authors.forename: Ambreen
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Aslam
authors.affiliation: Algae Biotechnology Laboratory, School of Agriculture and Food Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland 4072, Australia.
authors.forename: Skye R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Thomas-Hall
authors.affiliation: Environmental Science Department, Lahore College for Women University, Lahore, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Tahira Aziz
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Mughal
authors.affiliation: Algae Biotechnology Laboratory, School of Agriculture and Food Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland 4072, Australia. Electronic address: p.schenk@uq.edu.au.
authors.forename: Peer M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Schenk
mesh_terms: D002245:Carbon Dioxide; D005579:Fossil Fuels; D058086:Microalgae; D058433:Photobioreactors; D011210:Power Plants
chemical_list: D005579:Fossil Fuels; D002245:Carbon Dioxide
keywords: Adaptive evolution; Carbon dioxide; Carbon sequestration; Coal power plant; Greenhouse gas emissions; Microalgae; Microbial community profiling; Photobioreactor