Illuminating Fuel Future

Want to find out what real green energy is? At Meet the Algae at the Royal Society’s Summer Science Exhibition, part of See Further: The Festival of Science + Arts, it's 'green' to the environment as well as being coloured green! Pioneering PhD student Paolo Bombelli from Cambridge University has developed a way of harnessing the photosynthesising power of algae.
 
Algae (anything from ‘pond scum’ to seaweed) are harvested from natural bodies of water, such as ponds and grown in nutrient-rich liquid media inside an electric 'cell' called a Biological Photovoltaic Cell. When the algae are illuminated by sunlight or artificial light, chemicals inside the cells become 'excited' and produce electrons. These can be harvested by an 'electron carrier' in the media called ferricyanide, which carries the electrons to an electrode, converting them into electricity. The current cell design produces power equivalent to an AA battery.
 
This technology is only three years old, but the potential is great and there has already been significant interest and investment. This has provided the funds for the Algal Bioenergy Consortium to look into different aspects of the technology. Currently the species used is blue/green algae, so one experiment is to investigate other species (of all different types and colours such as Red Tide algae) to see if they can produce more electrons and thus more electricity.
 
A second way algae can be used for fuel is by producing 'algaeoleum'. Algae are very rich in a type of fat called lipids which can be burned for fuel. The algae can be grown to very high densities and so produce more fuel per square metre than other 'crop biofuels' such as rapeseed oil. Another advantage is due to water being it's only requirement, it can be grown anywhere (even in the middle of a desert) without using arable land; an important consideration in developing countries where this land is needed for food.
 
So will algae bloom into the biofuel of the future? A lot more research is needed to address the next challenge of making both techniques time and cost efficient, but the potential of this sustainable alternative to fossil fuels provides a very exciting prospect for the future.
 
So it is possible that for fuel at least, the future's bright, the future's green... or red... or orange!

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