In a forest of tubes eight metres high in eastern Spain scientists hope they have found the fuel of tomorrow: bio-oil produced with algae mixed with carbon dioxide from a factory.Almost 400 of the green tubes, filled with millions of microscopic algae, cover a plain near the city of Alicante, next to a cement works from which the C02 is captured and transported via a pipeline to the “blue petroleum” factory.The project, which is still experimental, has been developed over the past five years by Spanish and French researchers at the small Bio Fuel Systems (BFS) company.

The microalgae reproduces at high speed in the tubes by photosynthesis and from the CO2 released from the cement factory.Every day some of this highly concentrated liquid is extracted and filtered to produce a biomass that is turned into bio-oil.The  great advantage of the system is that it is a depollutant — it absorbs the C02 which would otherwise be released into the atmosphere.

Source:AFP