We all want to live in a clean and green world and breathe pollution free air. For this kind of environment we desperately need a fossil fuel free world. Scientists are toiling hard to come up with alternative fuels which can replace conventional fuels. One such study was presented at the 237th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society. This study throws interesting light on the first economical, eco-friendly process to transform algae oil into biodiesel fuel. The scientists are quite hopeful that one day America will become independent of fossil fuels. Ben Wen is the lead researcher and vice president of United Environment and Energy LLC, Horseheads, N.Y. According to him, “This is the first economical way to produce biodiesel from algae oil. It costs much less than conventional processes because you would need a much smaller factory, there are no water disposal costs, and the process is considerably faster.”

A Honolulu-based renewable energy company announced plans Tuesday to build a microalgae-production plant on Maui with the aim of selling biodiesel to Maui Electric Co.

HR Biopetroleum, a 3-year-old research and development company focused on converting algal oil to biodiesel, expects to open the plant in 2011.

The cleaner-burning fuel can be used to run cars, planes and power plants.

The Maui project includes an agreement with Honolulu-based Alexander & Baldwin Inc. to provide land adjacent to Maui Electric Co.'s waterfront power plant in Maalaea.

Ed Shonsey, HR Biopetroleum's CEO, told PBN the company expects to receive around 1,000 acres of land, and that it will likely use about 750 of those acres for algae production.

Algae can typically produce 10,000 to 15,000 gallons of oil per acre per year, meaning the facility could produce between 7.5 million and 11.25 million gallons of oil annually.

By comparison, the next best crop, palm, yields 600 gallons per acre per year, he said.

Algae fix the sunlight and carbon dioxide into energy and that too very fast. Scientists want to utilize this quality for alternative fuels. And when it comes to greener alternatives to fossil fuel what could be greener than pond scum? Why algae are more suitable over other bio-fuels? Algae can grow anywhere, practically anywhere. They can grow in sea-water or salty water or adulterated water or even in sewage. They can bear extreme temperature. They can grow on waste-land. Another good thing about algae is they multiply very fast. They can double their weight many times in a single day. Algae produce oil as a byproduct of photosynthesis. They can produce fifteen times more oil per acre than other plants such as corn and switchgrass.

If we want to single out the biggest two advantages of algae as bio-fuels, the first one can be these plants grow well where carbon dioxide is in excess and another is these plants can grow in sewages. “We have to prove these two things to show that we really are getting a free lunch,” said Lisa Colosi, a professor of civil and environmental engineering who is part of an interdisciplinary University of Virginia research team, recently funded by a new U.Va. Collaborative Sustainable Energy Seed Grant worth about $30,000.

Can the lowly algae ease a growing food-versus-fuel debate?

A growing number of start-ups are betting against the dominant biofuel crops--corn and soy--and looking to sidestep the backlash against biofuels, which are being blamed in part for higher food prices and deforestation around the world.

Melbourne, Fla.-based PetroAlgae says that it hopes to test a commercial system as early as next year.

Bioreactors used to grow algae for use as fuel and animal feed. (Credit: PetroAlgae)

The company licensed strains of freshwater algae bred by Arizona State University and is developing the bioreactors and harvesting methods to grow the algae at large scale, said Fred Tennant, PetroAlgae's vice president of business development.