MICROALGAE FOR BIODIESEL: SPECIES-SPECIFIC POTENTIAL OF OIL-PRODUCTION IN MASS CULTURES

The aim of this study was to find an index to describe the specific potential of oil production, such as to help discriminating among species, thus driving the selection of the most suitable for mass cultures as feedstock for biodiesel. The oil-yielding index revealed effective to describe the distribution of all the different producer species over the wide range of oil yields. The good relationship linking the daily-produced oil to the species-specific index was significantly supporting the combined role of the two specific parameters, growth-rate and cellular oil, as controlling the overall potential of oil production. Likewise, the relationship proved the utility of the index to improve the selection of most suitable oil-producer species.