As the world continues to search for a cost effective means to replace oil as the world leading energy source, algae appears to be making major strides. Reports in The Guardian recently reported the Pentagon is considering switching it's fleet from dirty jet fuel to a cleaner, algae based fuel in the not to distant future.

From the mentioned article, "The work is part of a broader Pentagon effort to reduce the military's thirst for oil, which runs at between 60 and 75 million barrels of oil a year. Much of that is used to keep the US Air Force in flight. Commercial airlines – such as Continental and Virgin Atlantic – have also been looking at the viability of an algae-based jet fuel, as has the Chinese government."

The article can be read here (Guardian.co.uk).

Unlike other options such as bio-fuels, algae has tremendous upside with minimal disadvantages. It does not threaten food supplies to be produced and can be grown on dirty water in simple conditions. The U.S. government, to their credit, it taking the initiative in trying to develop this technology, with the Obama administration awarding 80 million dollars in grants to fund algae and biomass fuel research.

As you might imagine, competition to be the leader in this form of clean energy is fierce with hundreds of companies aggressively pursuing advancements in algae technology with an eye on becoming the first to make it a current-day reality. Even large corporations such as Exxon Mobil are investing billions up billions of dollars in algae fuel research. Pretty amazing how quickly traditional oil and petroleum producers and suppliers jump on board once a clean energy idea is on the cusp of generating enormous income, isn't it?

For a more detailed and very interesting investigation into the production of algae and a case-study on OriginOil, an algae energy research company based in Los Angeles, click on this link from Reuters