This is still in the development stage , but it might be one of the answers to what will be used for the crop.
"Producing biodiesel from algae has been touted as the most efficient way to make biodiesel fuel. The advantage being that the land requirement for growing the biodiesel is very small. Independent studies have demonstrated that algae is capable of producing 30 times more oil per acre than the current crops now utilized for the production of biofuels. Algae biofuel contains no sulfur, is non-toxic and highly biodegradable. Some species of algae are ideally suited to biodiesel production due to their high oil content, in excess of 50%, and extremely rapid growth rates.
It's not the first to turn to algae and biomass as a source of fuel, but upstart Solazyme seems to think it's got a leg up on other biofuel makers and its apparently lining up the deals and big bucks to prove it. As Technology Review reports, that includes Chevron, which is now in a "testing agreement" with the start-up, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology, which dished out a $2 million grant to the company. The trick that's attracted all that interest, it seems, is the company's particular way of using algae to convert biomass into fuel, which takes the apparently unorthodox approach of growing them in the dark, which causes them to produce more oil than they do in the light. What's more, Solazyme's method also apparently allows them to use different strains of algae to produce different types of oil, including a mix of hydrocarbons that's similar to light crude petroleum. Needless to say, all of this is still quite a ways away from finding its way into your car's tank, but the company has demonstrated its algae-based fuel in a diesel car, so it's at least moved beyond the lab."
Tags: algae, biofuel, biomass, chevron, solazyme
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