Blue-green algae water safety

Scaling up the production of biofuels made from algae to meet at least 5 percent (about 39 billion litres) of US transportation fuel needs would place unsustainable demands on energy, water, and nutrients, warns the US’s National Research Council.

The inference of this warning is that, if biofuels cannot be made to work on a grand scale in North America, the challenges could prove just as immense in Europe and possibly greater, according to the Press and Journal.

However, the NRC says these concerns are not a definitive barrier for future production, and innovations that would require research and development could help realise algal biofuels’ full potential.

As reported in Energy before, biofuels derived from algae and cyanobacteria are possible alternatives to petroleum-based fuels and could help population