Pond power

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A project team is examining ways of cultivating algae to produce oil on a large scale.

Algae could produce sustainable, industrial-scale biofuel if processes being developed in a €6m (£5.3m) Scottish-led research programme prove successful.

, a collaborative project between Scottish and Irish researchers, is being coordinated by the Scottish Association for Marine Science (

).

The group hopes to better understand the way algae naturally produces oil so it can be stimulated to do this on a large scale.

The resulting biofuel would help meet the European Parliament's call for 10 per cent of road transport fuel to come from renewable sources by 2020.

Algae is viewed as a promising fuel source because it can generate 30 times more oil per acre than other plants used for biodiesel and other biofuels. Also, algae does not compete with food crops.

The BioMara project has received €4.9m (£4.3m) from the European Union's INTERREG IVA programme, with additional funding from Highlands and Islands Enterprise, The Crown Estate, the Northern Ireland Executive and the Irish government.

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