Seaweed as energy source?
Seaweed and other forms of marine algae and microorganisms could be an extremely valuable fuel source in the not-so-distant future and Greece has the ideal climate and geology for its cultivation, scientists say. Greece’s combination of hundreds of kilometers of coastline, fresh and semi-salted water sources, hot springs and abundant sunlight is perfect for the cultivation of algae, Constantinos Kyparissidis of the Center for Research and Technology Hellas (CERTH) told a seminar on the subject in Thessaloniki yesterday. «Algae requires large reservoirs of water and plenty of sunshine to thrive and would not eat into existing agricultural cultivations or precious water resources,» Kyparissidis said. He added that algae offers a yield 100 times greater than other bioenergy crops, usually being ready for harvest every two weeks. According to Dr David Nobles of the University of Texas, the technology for cultivating algae as a green energy fuel is developing rapidly but will only be capable of supporting large-scale cultivation in about 10 years.
