Algae – not a bio fool

Is South Africa having second thoughts about jumping on the bio-fuels bandwagon (or boondoggle) -- take your pick? Let's hope so. Only Jatropha so far holds out the hope of a non-food crop we could grow to produce bio-diesel and even it has huge risks in a drought ridden continent. Using maize is plain foolish. As is using any other food crop. But there is another potential way -- to use algae. Our own Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) is now reportedly aiming to develop a process for the production of biodiesel from algae. "Algae have long been known to produce lipids (a type of fat) that can be used for biodiesel production," a spokesman is quoted as saying this week. Its other advantages are that it does not use arable land. And it grows in waste water ie industrial and domestic effluent. Go for it manne!