Oil from Algae; Salvation from Peak Oil?

Abstract

A review is presented of the use of algae principally to produce biodiesel fuel, as a replacement for conventional fuel derived from petroleum. The imperative for such a strategy is that cheap supplies of crude oil will begin to wane within a decade and land-based crops cannot provide more than a small amount of the fuel the world currently uses, even if food production were allowed to be severely compromised. For comparison, if one tonne of biodiesel might be produced say, from rape-seed per hectare, that same area of land might ideally yield 100 tonnes of biodiesel grown from algae. Placed into perspective, the entire world annual petroleum demand which is now provided for by 31 billion barrels of crude oil might instead be met from algae grown on an area equivalent to 4% of that of the United States. As an additional benefit, in contrast to growing crops it is not necessary to use arable land, since pond-systems might be placed anywhere, even in deserts, and since algae grow well on saline water or wastewaters, no additional burden is imposed on freshwater–a significant advantage, as water shortages threaten. Algae offer the further promise that they might provide future food supplies, beyond what can be offered by land-based agriculture to a rising global population.