Algae's close-knit future with Asia

Algae has come to the fore in recent years as one of the most attractive sources for biofuel exploration, owing to its ability to provide sufficient volumes of fuel in a sustainable manor.

Biofuels of late have been mired with supply issues, with airline Lufthansa halting biofuel flights after it used up all the biofuel stock. Algae crops can grow 20 to 30 times faster than any other food crop, making research and development in this area particularly exciting.

Dr Jose Olivares, head of the National Alliance for Advanced Biofuels and Bioproducts (NAABB), has recently travelled the world in search of innovative technologies and research that will make algae biofuel into a commercial reality, and has shared his findings with Biofuels Digest.

In Asia, India's long history with algae makes it a force to contend with regarding its development into a biofuel. A funding arrangement has been agreed between India and the US which promises to pump millions of dollars in investment into the industry, although whether it be algae or cellulosic or some other energy plant it is yet to be determined. Reliance Industries Limited, one of the largest petrochemical companies in the world, is also looking to expand with particular emphasis on algae biofuels.

Japan also benefits from a close relationship over history with algae, with some of the top researchers in the world looking particularly at the commercialisation of Botryococcus braunii. China and Taiwan are also making substantial developments, the analysis of Nannochloropsis salina strain 1776.

Posted by Lauren Steadman