The purpose of this project was to determine if algae would produce more energy than sunflower oil and canola oil. The hypothesis was that algae would produce more energy. The type of algae that was used for the experiment was chlorella. The project experiment involved growing algae in water which was placed under a carbon dioxide tank. The algae required a 12 hour light cycle per day to grow efficiently. Once grown, the algae was placed into a bomb calorimeter to measure the amount of heat energy it produces. Since there wasn’t a high quantity of algae, it was mixed in with sunflower oil. Subsequently, the sunflower oil and canola oil were also tested in the bomb calorimeter to measure the amount of heat energy they generate. The algae produced - 56.2670 kJ/g compared to sunflower oil producing -36.5578 kJ/g and canola oil producing -3.4893 kJ/g in the bomb calorimeter. This result confirms that the algae produces more than sunflower oil and canola oil.
Algae as Renewable Energy Research Project
Background:
During the past few decades extensive collections of microalgae have been created by researchers in different countries. An example is the freshwater microalgae collection at the University of Coimbra (Portugal), considered one of the world’s largest, having more than 4000 strains and 1000 species. This collection attests to the large variety of different microalgae available to be selected for use in a broad diversity of applications, such as value added products for pharmaceutical purposes, food crops for human consumption, and as energy source (Microalgae for Biodiesel Production and other Applications, 2009).
Algal biofuels are generating considerable interest around the world. Microalgae are single-cell, photos...
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...periment would be applied to convert algae into biofuels in the future. Those biofuels could be used in transportation vehicles.
Conclusion:
The hypothesis was that algae would produce more energy than canola oil and sunflower oil. The results found through this experiment support this hypothesis. This shows how algae would be a great alternative in being used as renewable energy. Algae is the best choice over the other oils because it created the most energy through experimentation and the growing of the algae process did not harm the environment around it. People should use algae as renewable energy because they have an impressive productivity, non-competitive with agriculture, flexible on water quality, flexible on water quality, mitigation of carbon dioxide, and a broad product portfolio. Therefore, algae is the best source of renewable energy.
To investigate the relationship between three different alkanols in terms of their carbon chain length, rate of increased temperature, and heat of combustion, in order to determine which is the most efficient at heating water to a certain temperature whilst reducing time and effects on the environment.
An Analysis and Evaluation of Data from Photosynthesis Experiments Graph analysis This is my analysis for the investigation in to the affect of light intensity on the rate of photosynthesis to the Canadian pondweed, elodea. In the results the pattern is that when the light intensity is higher the readings are generally higher. On the graph the less the light intensity the lower the gradient of the curve. the equation for the photosynthesis process is; CO2 + 2H2O + Light Energy = =
There is a lot of talk about the world’s source of energy going on these days and people are starting to ask questions about our sources of energy. Is it environmentally friendly? Does it make sense economically? For years the world has been highly dependent on fossil fuels that are extracted from the ground. These fuels power things from power plants, cars, plains, and many of the other modern conveniences that we enjoy. There is a lot of energy expended in the extraction and transport of these fuels as well as many negative environmental impacts. Scientists are busy finding alternative ways to power our world that are cost efficient and ecofriendly. One idea that is being explored as an effective replacement is producing oil from algae. Algae have a high content of oil, about 50 percent of its weight, and science is finding a way to use it as a clean fuel source.
Stauffer, Nancy. ”MIT ethanol analysis confirms benefits of biofuels.” Laboratory for Energy and the Environment. January 2007.
Dinoflagellates are one of the four main types of phytoplankton, which are photosynthetic, single celled and free living organisms in the ocean. Dinoflagellates cause the Harmful Algal Blooms (HAB) also known as the red tide effect (Hackett et al 2004). Toxicity persisting at upper levels of the food chain is detected in them from the ones which are toxic, but not all such blooms are toxic. Enhanced detection capabilities may in part contribute to observed high frequency and severity of toxic blooms. As they are also important in the health of coral reefs their study has gained significant interest. Species are often selected for genome sequencing based on their importance as a model organism or relevance to human health, such as the HAB case.
Investigating the Effect of Light Intensity on Photosynthesis in a Pondweed Aim: To investigate how the rate of photosynthesis changes at different light intensities, with a pondweed. Prediction: I predict that the oxygen bubbles will decrease when the lamp is further away from the measuring cylinder, because light intensity is a factor of photosynthesis. The plant may stop photosynthesising when the pondweed is at the furthest distance from the lamp (8cm). Without light, the plant will stop the photosynthesising process, because, light is a limited factor. However once a particular light intensity is reached the rate of photosynthesis stays constant, even if the light intensity is the greatest.
Energy, especially from fossil fuels, is a key ingredient for all sectors of a modern economy and plays a fundamental role in improving the quality of life in less developed economies. In 2007, India is ranked fifth in the world in terms of energy demand; accounting for 3.6% of total energy consumed, and is expected to grow at 4.8% in the future. India imports 70% of the oil it uses, and the country has been hit hard by the increasing price of oil, uncertainty and environmental hazards that are concerned with the consumption of fossil fuels. In such context, bio energy constitutes a suitable alternative source of energy for India, as large amounts of raw material are available to be harnessed.
When gasoline burns in the engine of a car, an equal amount of work and heat appears as the energy is released. The heat from the engine warms its surroundings, the car parts, the air, and the passenger area. The heat energy is converted into the electrical energy of the radio, chemical energy of the battery, and radiant energy of the lights. The change in the sum of all of the energies formed from the burnt gasoline is equal to the “.change in energy between the reactants and products.” Biological processes, like photosynthesis, also follow energy conservation.
The Effect of Light Intensity on the Rate of Photosynthesis in an Aquatic Plant Introduction The input variable I will be investigating is light, as light is just one of the 4 factors required in the green-plant process of photosynthesis. Photosynthesis is the process by which green-plants use sunlight, carbon dioxide, water & chlorophyll to produce their own food source. This process is also affected by the temperature surrounding the plant (the species of plant we experimented with, pond weed, photosynthesised best at around 20 degrees centigrade.) Light, temperature & CO2 are known as limiting factors, and each is as important as the next in photosynthesis. Light is the factor that is linked with chlorophyll, a green pigment stored in chloroplasts found in the palisade cells, in the upper layer of leaves.
Poliakoff, M., Fitzpatrick, J. M., Farren, T. R., & Anastas, P. T. (2002). "Green Chemistry: Science and Politics of Change." Science, 297, 807-810.
How often also does a human use or eat algae in his daily life? When most people think of algae, they probably think of something that is slimy, gross, and dirty. Algae may irritate people because it grows in unwanted places like swimming pools and boats. Algae can be toxic and it is slimy, but algae benefits people in all aspects of life. Humans obtain algin from algae to help make ice cream, pudding, face cream, and shoe polish. Algae is present in hamburgers, yoghurt, and cakes. Algae also helps make explosives, insulation, and paint. Algae produces most of the oxygen that animals breathe and without it the world would suffocate. Also, according to Helen Challand, "It is now believed that the oil and gas formed millions of years ago in the ground were created by algae" (20).
The concept of this essay is to stress that biofuels are a viable and sustainable energy source than fossil fuels, showing its advantages but not ignoring its disadvantages which also enlightens us about the cleaner and renewable natural resources. Biofuels is an alternative source of energy which can end the global dependence on fossil fuels.
One of the most compelling arguments for the use of renewable energy is how many forms exist of it. Nuclear power, solar power, wind power, tidal power, hydroelectric power, pumped storage, wave power, geothermal power, biomass, and biogas are the most widely known renewable energy sources (Darvill, 2013). This large selection of fuels supports the idea of renewable fuels one day powering the entire planet. All the sources of energy have different niches and benefits. Solar energy is extremely ef...
In chapter thirteen of our book, Environment by Raven and Berg, it shows us just how important renewable energy sources are. Currently the United States of America thrives on the use of fossil fuels and nuclear power. The main problems with these types of fuel are that they are both limited and can be extremely harmful to our environment. They cause global warming, air pollution, acid rain, and oil spills (Environment), and not only that, but in the grand scheme of things, these sources really aren’t even that cheap of a fuel source. There are many alternatives to these all but outdated fuel sources.
With the depletion of fossil fuel resources comes speculations and debates about alternative energy sources. The world, including the Philippines, is practically dependent on a dwindling non-renewable source of energy. Today, experts are debating about and considering three options: Nuclear, Solar, or Wind Energy. Everyone has been accustomed to the bad image of nuclear energy as a result of the Chernobyl and Fukushima incidents above all others. The popular belief is that radiation from a nuclear meltdown is very harmful to humans and other living things—which is true—and that nuclear power plants are very dangerous and not ideal—which is not. According to Smith, et. al (n.d), all the nuclear disasters that ever occurred were caused by human error and natural disasters like tsunamis, not one because of system failure. Putting the false beliefs aside, with proper engineering and adequate maintenance by experts, a nuclear power plant is a very ideal and viable source of energy for the following reasons: