Marine algae 'could be used to produce biofuels'

Marine algae could be used in the production of biofuels, scientists have found.

Research from the University of California San Diego (UCSD), has found that genetically engineered marine algae could be transformed into a biofuel crop.

According to biologists, the yield of petroleum-like compound from genetically modified saltwater algae could match that found in fresh water.

This means that there are more environments in which algae can be grown, potentially expanding the amount of biofuel that could be reaped.

Researchers said that algal biofuels can be produced in the ocean, in water on tide lands and even on farming land that has been made redundant for other crops due to high salt content in the soil.

Stephen Mayfield, a researcher from UCSD, said: "The algal community has worked on fresh water species of algae for 40 years."

"What our research shows is that we can achieve in marine species exactly what we've already done in fresh water species."

Mr Mayfield noted that growing algae for biofuels could make use of the 10 million acres of land across the United States where crops can no longer be grown.

"Marine species of algae tend to tolerate a range of salt environments, but many fresh water species don't do the reverse," he said.

This comes after the European Commission warned that when biofuels are produced on existing agricultural land, more food and feed must be produced elsewhere in order to meet demand.

"This can imply land use change (by changing e.g. forest into agricultural land), which implies that a substantial amount of CO2 emissions are released into the atmosphere," the organisation warned.

Under new legislation from the European Union, food suppliers will not be held accountable for the amount of indirect emissions biofuels have caused by pushing food production into new areas.