Cyprus wants to grow tiny algae and see if they are a good biofuels alternative to diesel

Cyprus Agricultural Research Institute, a non-profit branch of the Agriculture Ministry, wants to grow tiny algae and see if they are a good biofuels alternative to diesel reports Cyprus Mail.Biofuels are a renewable energy source and can be an answer to the global problems of increasing energy needs amid dwindling non-renewable resources and climate change.Organic material, such as soya, can be converted into burnable biofuels. But there’s a catch: arable land is in short supply and growing crops to use as fuels is in direct competition with growing crops to eat.And just growing enough of the stuff can be tricky, said the Agricultural Research Institute’s Polycarpos Polycarpou.“One of the main problems with biodiesel (a kind of biofuel) is having enough raw materials to make production possible. A solution seems to be growing microalgae - present in sea water,” said Polycarpou.Polycarpou is the co-ordinator of a three-year research project launched this week in collaboration with 12 organisations from six countries, which is 90 per cent funded by the European Union.

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