Isolation and characterization of microalgal strains for biomass production and wastewater reclamation in Northern Sweden

Abstract Microalgal strains adapted to the harsh Nordic climate were isolated from Swedish fresh- and wastewater sources and tested for their ability to grow in municipal wastewater. The 62 strains able to grow in municipal wastewater belonged to 12 different genera, of those Desmodesmus , Scenedesmus and Chlorella were most representative. Eight axenic strains were further characterized, all of which could efficiently remove nitrogen (>90%) and phosphate (>99%) from the wastewater in less than two weeks. The microalga Coelastrella sp. had the highest performance in terms of both biomass concentration and total lipid content (1.46 g/L, 30.8%) after 13 days of cultivation. This is the first report of a Coelastrella strain isolated in Sweden. Even Chlorella vulgaris performed very well with a biomass concentration and total lipid content of 1.15 g/L and 34.2%, respectively. Finally, two Desmodesmus sp. strains showed desirable traits for biofuel-feedstock, due to their fast growth rates (1.18 and 1.08 d −1 ) together with high oil content (29.8% and 36.7% of DW).