Leading candidate of biofuels

Biofuels (biofuels) made from agricultural products (such as cereals, oilseeds .) in the near future may face a ' rival ' formidable competition: microalgae species.

Productivity is 30 times higher

The potential of these algae makes scientists dream. On the same hectare, the microalgae yield is up to 30 times higher than the yield of plants for oil like oilseed rape or sunflower.

Moreover, they grow much faster, almost double after every day. 'Every year, one-and-a-half acres of microalgae in greenhouses can produce tons of microalgae, no matter how bad the weather is good,' said Jean-Paul Braud, director of an algae-growing company. said.

This is a big advantage when it is known that one of the biggest limitations of the production of biofuels from agricultural products is that this requires a very high crop area. 'In order for all cars in France to be run by bioenergy, we must plant oilseed rape on an area equivalent to the area of ​​the whole France' - Mr. Bernard added.

No environmental pollution

(Photo: scieng.flinders.edu.au)

In terms of environment, the impact of these microalgae species is negligible, while the cultivation of oil plants or food crops to make biofuels cannot be used without fertilizers, pesticides .

Microalgae species are nourished by azide, phosphate and carbon dioxide, so people can easily imagine that they are suitable to be cultivated near factories and industrial zones that pollute and use domestic wastewater. or agricultural wastewater .

A program to study the feasibility (study of industrial scale production model) worth 2.6 million euros, in cooperation with many French and international universities and scientific research agencies, is conducted since the end of December 2006.

The primary focus of this program is to find the optimal microalgae with the fastest reproductive capacity and the most productive solution. Now scientists from countries like Germany, China, Spain, America, England and Japan are also racing to find the algae that meet these two conditions .

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