[O-08] Poster presentations by senior high school students

[O08-P67] Carbon-neutral by utilizing algae as a medium

*Itsuki Mizushima¹, *Rindai Kawanishi¹, *Ryosuke Tsukuda¹, *Ryuu Mantani¹, *Haruki Yoneda¹, Kazumi Igawa¹ (1.Zushi Kaisei Senior High School in Kanagawa)

Keywords:Sea

We have known that the concept of carbon neutrality, which many enterprises all over the world are aiming to realize, means equalizing the quantity of carbon emitted to the quantity of carbon absorbed. This is why we made carbon neutrality the target of our study. When we were considering whether we could relate carbon neutrality to the ocean, we thought about blue carbon, which is a system of isolating and storing carbon that generates methane gas through the microbial fermentation of algae. In the case of conventional biomass energy, refining plants such as corn or saccharum is required. The production of corn or saccharum may not be suitable for Japan, which has many mountains and doesn’t have much arable land. Moreover, the production of corn or saccharum for biomass energy is likely to compete with the production of food. On the other hand, converting algae into energy is appropriate for Japan, which is an island nation surrounded by the ocean. It seems that the conditions for raising algae in large amounts are already present. In addition, the energy generated by algae will be sustainable. Therefore, we decided to associate blue carbon with microbial fermentation. We attempted to convert algae that absorbs carbon dioxide into methane gas and utilize it as energy. We conducted our study to construct a carbon cycle, and realize carbon neutrality. However, we discovered difficulties in performing our study, for example there are many required processes for converting algae into methane and it is difficult to grow algae properly. Then we decided to carry out a primary investigation that uses acetic acid and glucose. The reason why we chose these substances is that they are degradation substances for microbial fermentation. In addition, while we were seeking cases to utilize algae as a medium, we discovered a study succeeding in converting algae into methane by using mud in tideland. Accordingly, we collected some mud at the tideland in Kanagawa prefecture in January. We will conduct a relatively simplified investigation so that we can become accustomed to performing the complicated and scientific experiments necessary for realizing carbon neutrality. I am going to report the results of our study.