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Cultivation of Ulva lactuca with manure for simultaneous bioremediation and biomass production

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Abstract

The potential of liquid manure as sole nutrient source for cultivation of Ulva lactuca was investigated with the perspective of utilizing the produced biomass for feed and/or energy. Algae grown with manure demonstrated equal growth rates to algae grown with standard f/2-medium. The optimum manure concentration, expressed as ammonium concentration, was 25 μM. At these conditions, the biomass produced was potentially suitable for anaerobic digestion, due to a relative high carbon/nitrogen ratio (approximately 19). At higher manure concentrations, tissue concentrations of nitrogen, phosphorus, proteins, and amino acids increased, making the biomass less suitable for anaerobic digestion but potentially interesting as a feed supplement. Cultivating U. lactuca with manure as nutrient source has potential in terms of bioremediation as well as production of bioenergy and protein-feed.

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Acknowledgments

This study was financially supported and carried out as a part of the EU FP7 project “BioWalk4Biofuels” funded by the European Commission, as well as the Danish regional project “Algae for biogas in the Central Denmark Region” funded by the Central Denmark Region. Experimental work was performed as part of R&D activities at Algae Center Denmark. We thank Kitte Linding Gerlich, Tanja Quottrup Egholm, and Egon Frandsen for valuable assistance in the laboratory and also express our gratitude to two anonymous reviewers whose comments and suggestions have improved the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Vejlsøvej 25, 8600, Silkeborg, Denmark

    Mette Møller Nielsen, Annette Bruhn & Michael Bo Rasmussen

  2. Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Ny Munkegade 114-116, 8000, Aarhus C, Denmark

    Birgit Olesen

  3. Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Frederiksborgvej 399, 4000, Roskilde, Denmark

    Martin M. Larsen

  4. Department of Engineering, Aarhus University, Blichers Allé 20, 8830, Tjele, Denmark

    Henrik B. Møller

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  1. Mette Møller Nielsen
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Correspondence to Mette Møller Nielsen.

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Nielsen, M.M., Bruhn, A., Rasmussen, M.B. et al. Cultivation of Ulva lactuca with manure for simultaneous bioremediation and biomass production. J Appl Phycol 24, 449–458 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10811-011-9767-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10811-011-9767-z

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