Energy

Henry Ford's first car ran on alcohol, a form of biofuel. That was a century ago, and, with the discovery of fossil fuels, the use of biofuels diminished significantly. Today, however, as the world faces unstable oil prices and an increasingly urgent energy crisis, in tandem with environmental concerns such as global warming and climate changes, biofuels are making a comeback. However, this comeback is not without controversy.

Could harvesting biodiesel from algae provide a sustainable solution to the world's fuel crises? Researchers in the CSIR's bioprocessing development research group have embarked on a project to answer this question and present algae as an alternative energy source for Africa. "Algae have long been known to produce lipids that can be used for biodiesel production," says Dheepak Ramduth, the lead researcher on the project. "With the current worldwide focus on cleaner fuels and environmental awareness, algal biodiesel is an attractive option, as the specific production of oil per unit biomass is...