Algae promoted as biofuel

GRONINGEN, Netherlands, Feb. 7 (UPI) -- A Dutch marine biologist said algae is an ideal biofuel, yielding 10 times as much fuel as corn or rapeseed.

Hein de Baar of the University of Groningen in the Netherlands said algae are easy to grow, are not a human food source and can absorb carbon dioxide, making it "carbon neutral." He said he hopes to see cars running on algae oil in two to four years, the university said in a release.

By using algae instead of plants to generate biofuel, he said problems with other plants can be avoided. "Just think of corn production," De Baar said. "Not long ago, so much corn was purchased to make fuel that Mexicans could no longer afford to buy corn for their traditional diet. You don't have that problem with algae."

He said algae can be produced by farming it on land that has been flooded or in barrels of water. He said carbon dioxide from the exhaust pipes of factories could be sent straight to the algae farms and animal waste could be used to provide nitrogen and phosphorus.