IT’S green fuel – literally and figuratively.
Microalgae could be the future of biodiesel. In conjunction with Cepsa, scientists from the University of Huelva are investigating the viability of indigenous species of seaweed producing oil.
Algae are some of the fastest growing plants in the world and up to 50 per cent of their weight is lipid oil that can be used to make biodiesel.
Researchers in Huelva hope to identify and extract the major lipids within the microalgae that show rapid growth and have the most stable populations.
Microalgae are organisms that grow using sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide from the air. Much of this carbon dioxide, however, is converted into molecules that can be utilised in the production of healthy food and biodiesels.
Because no company in the world currently produces algae fuel, there is no standardised method for harvesting and using the plants. Huelva researchers hope to change that.
The first step to an efficient process is finding indigenous microalgae that can grow rapidly, resist adverse environmental conditions, and accumulate high lipid concentrations.
With hopes of turning seaweed patches into natural energy factories, scientists will isolate the microalgae populations in certain Huelva locations and move the most effective ones to the laboratory for testing.
