Abstract
Photobiological hydrogen production by nitrogen-fixing unicellular cyanobacteria has long been considered to be an environmentally sound and very promising method for the future supply of renewable clean energy. We tried to find out the optimum cell concentration for $H_2$ production in each of the two new Korean nitrogen-fixing unicellular cyanobacterial strains to compare with Synechococcus sp. strain Miami BG043511. The two Korean strains, Cyanothece sp. KNU CB MAL-031 and KNU CB MAL-058, were isolated from Korean west coasts. Cell concentrations up to 17 billion cells $ml^{-1}$ were applied to the tests. High cell concentration over 15 billion cells $ml^{-1}$ resulted in drastically reduced $H_2$ production in all the three strains. The two domestic strains, however, produced 2-3 time more hydrogen than Synechococcus sp. Miami BG043511 at cell concentrations of 5-10 billion cells $ml^{-1}$. At lower cell concentrations than 2 billion cells $ml^{-1}$, MAL-031 exhibited highest $H_2$ production followed by Miami BG043511, with far less production in MAL-058. Present result suggests that Cyanothece sp. MAL-CB031 might be one of the ideal nitrogen-fixing unicellular cyanobacterial strains for the photobiological hydrogen production.