Carbon dioxide utilization and hydrogen production by photosynthetic microorganisms

The solar energy is the largest energy source in the world. Using the photosynthesis, we will be able utilize the huge amount of carbon dioxide. Microalgae, cyanobacteria, photosynthetic bacteria belong to photosynthetic microorganisms, which assimilate carbon dioxide during the photosynthesis. One of the cyanobacteria Spirulina platensis accumulates carbohydrate photoautotrophically up to 50% of the dry cell weight in the nitrogen-deficient condition. Under an anaerobic condition in the dark, it is degraded into organic compounds such as organic acids, alcohol and sugar. As the hydrogen gas is also evolved in this process, the participation of hydrogenase (hydrogen producing enzyme) has been suggested in this metabolism. We have investigated several conditions br evolution of hydrogen and production of organic compounds. The bacterial concentration, initial pH and temperature had significant effects on hydrogen evolution as well as production of organic compounds. When the bacterial cell concentration was high, the pH of fermentation products was reduced to acidic and the evolution of hydrogen tended to be inhibited. The profiles of fermentation products varied according to the culture condition. The increase of organic acids were remarkable in the inhibitory condition for hydrogen production, such as acidic pH and high temperature. Furthermore these fermentation products were converted into hydrogen gas by using photosynthetic bacterium, Rhodobacter sphaeroides RV with light energy. The composition of evolved gas was mainly hydrogen and carbon dioxide, and their contents were 78% and 10%, respectively. The total amount of evolved hydrogen was nearly equal to the estimated value which was calculated by the degradation of each organic acid. Combining this system with the photosynthesis of cyanobacteria, we could accomplish the production of hydrogen by solar energy, carbon dioxide and water. And we demonstrated that the evolved gas could be directly supplied to the fuel cell and generate the electricity.