Algae Cleans Up the Environment

August 19, 2008 11:39 am SHawke Environment, In the News

Algae Growing

Recently, oil companies and researchers have been looking for alternative fuels that could play a part not only in opening up a new avenue in renewable resources but also create a new eco-friendly manner of supplying the growing energy needs of our population.

Algae Pros and Pros

There may be no prospect with as much potential as pond scum. Otherwise know as algae, this biological organism transforms sunlight into energy with enough efficiency to double its weight multiple times a day.

A byproduct of this photosynthetic process is an oil, and algae can produce a lot of it (almost 15 times more than other plants currently used for biofuel)! And algae can pretty much grow anywhere!

Introducing the Biofuel Research Team

A University of Virginia research team has been given a grant worth about $30,000 to study the potential this organism could provide.

Their main hypothesis is that feeding the algae carbon dioxide and organic material, like sewage, will actually increase the production of the algae’s oil. This would essentially be using our waste products to produce something valuable.

As stated earlier, oil companies like Shell and Chevron have already been researching the promise of using algae as a biofuel but a published finding by an accredited scientific team would be a major benefit to other scientists.