Arya Hirsave
7th Grade, Canyon Vista Middle School
Austin, TX
Micro’fat’ories: Increasing Microalgal Biomass and Lipids for Biofuel Production
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Project Background
When Arya’s science class was covering renewable and non-renewable energy last year, “the word ‘biomass’ piqued my interest,” she says. Fossil fuels are currently supplying most of the energy used around the world, and Arya is concerned about their role in climate change. She was excited to find out about renewable energy sources like algae, which can be grown to make biofuel, all while pulling CO₂ out of the atmosphere. She wanted to find out how to make algae grow faster and produce more oils to make them better sources for biofuels.
Tactics and Results
Arya took freshwater (Chlorella vulgaris and Chlorella pyrenoidosa) and saltwater algae (Nannochloropsis and Tetraselmis chuii) and measured how much and how quickly they grew. She showed that Chlorella vulgaris and Nannochloropsis grew fastest, which could make them better sources of biofuel. Arya then added vitamins B and C, as well as plant hormones to her algae. The vitamins boosted algae photosynthesis, leading to a six to seven percent increase in growth. Finally, she added salt to the freshwater algae and showed that while the algae didn’t grow as much, they did produce more lipids—important for biofuel production. The best result, Arya showed, was giving algae vitamins for three days, followed by high salt treatment for two days, enabling them to grow while increasing their lipid production by 77 percent in five days—highlighting microalgae’s potential as a more efficient biofuel source.
Beyond the Project
Arya has been participating in science fairs since third grade. “Science fair has been a way for me to figure out what I want to be when I grow up, and that is why I pick a project in a different category each year,” she says. Arya also loves any crafting project, from sewing to making miniature flowers. She would like to become an astrophysicist. Whether “searching up black hole TON 618 on Wikipedia or downloading the night sky app on my mom’s phone to see the constellations, the night sky never ceases to amaze me,” she says.
