Updated Cost Analysis of Photobiological Hydrogen Production from Chlamydomonas reinhardtii Green Algae: Milestone Completion Report

This report updates the 1999 economic analysis of NREL's photobiological hydrogen production from Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. The previous study had looked mainly at incident light intensities, batch cycles and light adsorption without directly attempting to model the saturation effects seen in algal cultures. This study takes a more detailed look at the effects that cell density, light adsorptionand light saturation have on algal hydrogen production. Performance estimates based on actual solar data are also included in this study. Based on this analysis, the estimated future selling price of hydrogen produced from algae ranges $0.57/kg to $13.53/kg.