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3:15 AM Tue 6 Jan 2009 GMT
 | | 'Abundant and easy to grow, marine algae is far and away the most promising option for bio-fuel, according to its proponents.'
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In response to the challenges of global warming and dwindling fuel supplies, within 10 years we may be fuelling our cars and boats with a blend of marine algae, which is easy to grow and doesn't require fresh water for irrigation.
Scientists believe marine algae as the most promising potential source of 'green fuel', hoping it would help ease the dependence on fossil fuel and power in boats and motor vehicles in the future.
Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of Californa San Diego (UCSD), scientists along with their counterparts from its division of biological sciences are part of an emerging algal biofuel consortium that includes academic collaborators, CleanTECH, public and private partners.
Biologist Greg Mitchell is quick to point out that marine algae are the most efficient organisms on earth for absorbing light energy and converting it into a natural biomass oil product, the biofuel equivalent of crude oil.
'Nothing else comes close. Algae yields five to 10 times more bioenergy molecules per area, per time, than any terrestrial plant,' said Mitchell.
From a sustainability perspective, algae hold the upper hand against other biofuel candidates, such as corn and soybeans. Algae can be grown on barren desert land using salt water, averting competition with agricultural cropland and the need for large amounts of precious fresh water for irrigation.
Since they require carbon dioxide for growth, algae are inherently carbon neutral, and they can suck up carbon dioxide directly from industrial pollution sources. Furthermore, algae can feed off the nutrients in discarded wastewater. Adding yet another layer to their allure, the rich protein left over from algae harvests can be converted to animal feed.
'There is still a lot of work to do, but algal-derived biofuels have the potential to become a major source of transportation fuel,' said Bernard Raemy, executive vice president of Carbon Capture Corporation, a company growing algae in ponds for biofuel research in California's Imperial Valley desert.
Raemy believes that with appropriate investment, a new algal biofuel industry, based on collaborations with public and private sectors, could be built within 10 years.
The prospect of squeezing billions of gallons of biofuel oil from marine algae is enticing, but to transform tiny lime-green-coloured plant-like organisms into a viable and realistic fuel option, they must be tested and grown on a massive scale.
Intermediate-sized, and eventually immense, algae production sites will be required to produce an economically relevant quantity of algae-based oil for biodiesel fuel in cars, trucks, and airplanes.
Such facilities are beginning to emerge, featuring farms with vast oval-shaped ponds capable of churning out hundreds of pounds of algal biomass per day, said a Scirpps release.
But these facilities are in their formative stages and face an array of problems, from selecting which species of algae are the best candidates for biofuel output to addressing the threat of airborne contaminants that invade algae ponds and disrupt growth processes.
Mitchell, who spent years promoting algal biofuel but was largely dismissed, jumped in with zeal. He began organising seminars and meetings on the topic, in addition to coordinating efforts with national and international algal biofuel stakeholders.
Mitchell's lab began evaluating various species of algae for their biofuel potential. Today, the lab is evaluating diverse algal growth scenarios and resultant biological models, or test cases, which could be applied in algal pond farms.
by Jeni Bone
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