NEVER MIND MAIZE, LOOK AT ALGAE!

WHILE the Gadarene throng rush off to join the bio-fuel bubble, pinning their hopes on maize, sugar, canola or jatropha, Shell Oil have quietly joined up with those looking at a far better prospect -- marine algae. Shell's geek partners in this are HR Biopetroleum and together they are forming a joint venture (JV) to be called Cellana. The JV will build a demonstration plant in Hawaii to find out which algae produce the highest yields. But why algae? Well -- and listen closely Cabinet members --because marine algae can be grown in sea water ponds and not use up agricultural land and fresh water. It also doubles its mass several times a day and produces at least 15 times more oil per hectare than alternatives such as rape, palm soya or jatropha. Better still, algae soaks up CO2 -- important to those who believe in the new religion of climate change. Fear not. The world will not come to an end soon -- even if we do run out of oil some time this century. More to the point, we do not need the Reverend Al Gore and others to form a new priesthood to govern us all. Man's ingenuity is a far better bet to come to the rescue.