The growth performance of Chlorella protothecoides, Chlorella pyrenoidosa, and Chlorella sp. in autotrophic cultivation with 10% carbon dioxide (CO2) was evaluated. The biomass production of C. protothecoides, along with its carbon, nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P) utilization, in batch and semicontinuous autotrophic cultivation with 20% CO2 was also determined. Among the three algae species, C. protothecoides obtained the highest biomass yield (1.08g/L) and P assimilation (99.4%). Compared with the CO2 flow rate and inoculation ratio in batch cultivation, light intensity considerably improved biomass yield, N and P assimilation, and CO2 utilization. In the semicontinuous cultivation of C. protothecoides, a hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 8days kept the system at a stable running state, thereby demonstrating that an HRT of 8days was better than an HRT of 5days. Among the three N/P ratios for C. protothecoides in semicontinuous cultivation with 20% CO2, 2:1 provided the highest biomass productivity (0.19g/L/day) and CO2 fixation rate (0.37g/L/day). Therefore, this lower N/P ratio is more suitable than 10:1 and 50:1 for the growth of C. protothecoides with 20% CO2. Compared with the batch cultivation of C. protothecoides, semicontinuous cultivation improved the CO2 fixation rate (by 1.5-2 times) and CO2 utilization efficiency (by 3-6 times) of C. protothecoides.