In order to eliminate the inhibition effect of the toxic nitric oxide (NO) in flue gas on microalgal growth and CO2 fixation, NO was converted by a wet UV/H2O2 method to produce nitrate (NO3−), which then be used as a nitrogen source for microalgae to improve its growth. The growth ability and biomass compositions of the microalgae cultivated with the produced NO3− from NO gas were similar to those of the microalgae cultivated with equivalent moles of commercial NaNO3. The NO3− concentration produced from NO increased with UV lamp power, H2O2, and NO concentrations, resulting in an improved microalgal growth. The concentration of NO3− from 500 ppm NO wet-oxidized by 6% (v/v) H2O2 and 55 W UV light was up to 8.8 mM. When the produced nitrate was used as supplementary nitrogen source, the maximum growth productivity of Chlorella PY-ZU1 at 15% (v/v) CO2 reached 1.18 g L−1 per day (0.97 times higher than that cultivated with the standard medium). The peak fixation efficiency of 15% (v/v) CO2 was 69.6% (1.13 times higher than that cultivated with the standard medium).
