As oil becomes harder to find an increasingly costly, large energy companies are looking for alternatives. Royal Dutch Shell have recently announced that they are looking into an unusual fuel source – algae. The energy giant has already begun to grow marine algae at a small facility in Hawaii and is hoping to produce vegetable oil that can be turned into biofuel.

Shell have joined forces with HR Biopetroleum, a micro-algae specialist, to research and development the new technology. They have already said that the technology has huge potential because algae grows quickly, is rich in vegetable oils and can be grown in ponds of seawater, reducing the need for fertile land and fresh water. Growing algae also has a very small CO2 footprint, making it a technology that won’t harm the environment too much.

Algae’s growth is impressive – it can double it’s mass several times in a day and can produce more than 15 times more oil than the equivalent sized plant crops. Algae also has the benefit that it won’t use up sources of fresh water, contaminate the local water supplies (through fertilizers and pesticides), won’t cause deforestation, or take up valuable agricultural land. Marine algae also absorbs CO2 so there is also the potential for it to absorb waste emissions from nearby factories and manufacturers.

There are still questions over the commercial viability of algae as a fuel source with some saying that the cost of algae is very high. However, with oil prices continuing to rise, algae could be a very viable alternative.

Shell have currently got a 2.5 hectare pilot running and are hoping that they will soon have 1,000 hectares, and ultimately 20,000 hectares if the fuel is proven to be a viable biofuel alternative. It is currently unknown how much money Shell have ploughed into this venture, nor how much money they think it can make.

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