Seawater-based methane production from blue-green algae biomass by marine bacteria coculture

Marine-enriched culture NKM 004 produced methane from various carbohydrates, but methane production was inhibited by sulfate and acetate accumulated in the medium. On the other hand, marine methanogenic bacterium NKM 006 produced methane from acetate and methyltrophic substrates, and methane production was not inhibited by sulfate. The mixture of NKM 004 and NKM 006 continuously produced methane from marine blue-green algae Dermocarpa sp. NKBG 102B at 54 mu mol/L medium/h for 200 h and the dry weight of the algal biomass was decreased to 25% of the initial weight in the natural seawater. Conversion of algal carbohydrate (glucose equivalent) to methane was 65%. Results indicate that this system is promising for methane production based on seawater and solar energy.