Botryococcus braunii is a pyramid shaped microalga that offers great potential in the field of biotechnology, and as a renewable source of hydrocarbons and other chemicals. It’s notable for its ability to produce high amounts of hydrocarbons, especially oils that can be produced at around 30-40 percent of its dry weight.

My plan is to use this alga to produce oil for a Microbial Oil Lamp, to demonstrate its remarkable properties.

This project is at a very early stage but these are videos are of it in an intact form, and then of it crushed, where the oil it produces can be clearly seen as droplets.