Figure 1: Biomass production by N. gaditana.

(a) N. gaditana production of biomass, lipids, protein and sugars quantified during continuous growth over a period of 3 months in 50% salinity seawater medium supplemented with nitrate, phosphate and CO₂ with continuous 1,000 μE light. Every week, half of the culture was collected and replaced with fresh medium. Inset values show the yield in mg l⁻¹ per day. Values are from 12 measurements and error bars show the standard deviation. (b) Chart illustrating collected biomass compositions, the majority of which consists of lipids even under nutrient replete conditions. Inset values show percentage of total biomass. (c) Comparison of N. gaditana lipid production rates with other algae examined in this work. Values are from at least three separate experiments and error bars show the standard deviation. (d) Comparison of N. gaditana large-scale production rates with other biofuel production platforms. Bars in green indicate our estimations; bars in grey indicate estimations by Atsumi et al. 30 The values for N. gaditana have been extrapolated from 1 l cultures and adjusted for our observed productivity in 12 h/12 h light/dark cycles. The S. elongatus production values are for 24 h light and would presumably be lower in 12 h/12 h light/dark cycles.