Projects
A number of research institutions particularly in Europe, America and Asia, are investigating the potential for liquid fuels out of algae. Several oil companies are also active in this field. Here a few examples of research projects in Germany:
The research project “AlgenFlugKraft” at the Technical University of Munich intends to identify which species of algae are suitable for industrial use in the case of kerosene production, as well as which types of algae would best develop under different climatic conditions.

The “AUFWIND” project at Forschungszentrum Jülich also looks into the technical and economic possibilities for the production of algae and their conversion to bio-kerosene, which could replace conventional petroleum-based kerosene as aviation fuel.
At the Freiberg University of Mining and Technology, in coordination with the Brandenburg University of Technology in Cottbus-Senftenberg, the conversion of microalgae into fuels is being researched with the aim of developing a refinery process for the production of algae-based fuel components able to be dropped in. In the first step, the algae biomass is transformed into a "biocrude" similar to heavy oil. Through further refining, the crude is transformed into high-quality fuels by hydrogenating processes in which the biocrude is upgraded by the addition of hydrogen. These processes already exist in refineries, so that the further processing of biocrude could be integrated into existing refinery processes.

(Freiberg University facilities. Photo: Eurofuel)
Find out more in the Freiberg Study on the potential of liquid fuels with reduced greenhouse gas emissions.