Ruud Streefkerk

Currently much research is done on algae in the context of sustainable solutions to our environmental problems. Algae have a number of advantages over plants: they contain a high percentage of oil and are very productive. They also grow in salt water and are able to use industrial waste as a food source. They can provide us with biodiesel and perhaps even solve our CO2 problem. GSBS (Green Sea Bio System), for instance, is working on a process whereby CO2 is extracted from the air by an algae culture. Using solar energy, photosynthesis and an electromagnetic field, carbon from the CO2 is bound and oxygen returned to the environment. When the remaining ‘algae-soup' is refined, the various components, such as proteins and fatty acids, used in food and cattle-forage, may be won separately. The remaining oil can serve as fuel and to generate electricity. So algae are perhaps the solution for both our food- as well as our CO2-problem.