Algae has been talked about as a proposed renewable energy source for several years now.
The biofuel derived from different types of algae could potentially be used to power jet aircraft and other types of transport, but there are a number of problems preventing widescale adoption.
These can all be boiled down to the fact that for now, it costs too much to be commercially viable.
This is down to several factors, with limited light penetration and poor cultivation dynamics resulting in a relatively low yield of algae coupled with high costs for harvesting it.
Now, researchers are using artificial intelligence (AI) to improve the process, and they say that they have set a new world record in biomass productivity in experimental conditions.
This could pave the way for algae to help reduce CO2 emissions, helping the environment and reducing reliance on fossil fuels.
The study is headed by AgriLife Research scientists from Texas A&M University.
Lead researcher Joshua Yuan has previously worked at turning biological materials including corn stubble, grasses and mesquite into a range of biodegradable, lightweight materials and bioplastics.
For the new study, Yuan and his team used a specialist AI model to find the best conditions to cultivate synthetic strains of algae.
Predictive AI helps find the perfect set-up for cultivation
Advanced learning algorithms take account of a number of factors, including light penetration and optimal density, to predict the optimal conditions of algae that can be continuously grown and harvested using hydroponics.
They achieved a growth rate of 43.3g of biomass productivity per square meter per day in experimental conditions.
This would represent a new global record and is considerably more than the 25g per square meter per day target set by the US Department of Energy, which is providing funding for ongoing research.
Yuan said that the team had overcome the challenges posed in algae cultivation by using advanced machine learning to help design a system of semi-continuous algal cultivation (SAC).
The team engineered a fast-growing strain of synthetic blue-green algae and produced limonene – the major component in the oil of citrus fruit peels.
This “enables efficient cell aggregation and sedimentation”, Yuan said.
He added that the technology they developed is cost-effective and could help set up algae as a true alternative energy source.
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