Once the magnetic algae will be exploited, biofuel will compete with fossil fuel

Oct 22, 2011 08:26 GMT  ·  By

Researchers from New Mexico seem to have managed to improve the quality of algae used to create biofuel.

Pulak Nath, from the Department of Energy's Los Alamos National Laboratory stated the fact that he and his crew came up with a new formula of “magnetic algae”, a finding which would substantially decrease the costs implied by the process of obtaining biofuel from regular algae.

In order to do that, scientists relied on a gene removed from magnetotactic bacteria found in soil, that aligns itself with our planet's magnetic field.

It proved to be quite easy to test such an innovative idea: researchers just had to place the improved algae next to a magnet, and notice how it is attracted.

Despite the fact that green fuel obtained from algae is a very effective substitute for fossil fuel, its expansion on a large scale is presently stopped by its prohibitive costs.

The process of extracting this source of biofuel implies chemical usage and sound waves, an expensive procedure which takes over approximately 30% of the total costs implied by obtaining this kind of biofuel.

Talking about the present cost reflected by the process of obtaining eco-friendly fuel, Nath stated that it "is one of the limiting steps for algae fuel from becoming cost competitive to fossil fuels."

Relying on permanent magnets would make the job easier and less expensive at the same time. Researchers say they would be able to collect algae and then separate them from water.

Scientists from the lab try to develop and improve this breakthrough, by applying the new features to other kinds of algae, as well.

They plan to work on their strategy until they can prove for a fact that the technological process really works, and then pass it on to leading companies in the biofuel industry.

The government supports their findings, since by 2022 the US is keen on obtaining 36 million gallons of premium biofuel every year.

"And that won't cost us any money in terms of energy input because we are using these permanent magnets and the energy from these permanent magnets — other than the material — is free," concluded Nath.