ODU Scientists Create, Test Alternative Fuel From Microscopic Plants

Pain at the pump is forcing Americans to think seriously about that fuel of the future.

A solution just might come out of a lab at Old Dominion University in Norfolk.

"I think it's a great new source of fuel, it's something to be excited about," said Adair Johnson, a researcher at ODU.

Excitement is building for Dr. Patrick Hatcher and his team of researchers. The algae they grew in a lab, then transformed into biodiesel, is hitting the road.

Zooming around ODU's campus, a little racecar, running on 10 percent biodiesel, 90 percent regular fuel, doesn't slow down.

The only difference according to Johnson, "It definitely has a distinct smell. Running it off the regular RC fuel, you can't really smell a whole lot from the exhaust, but when we use the biodiesel, you can tell, it has a different smell to it."

This is biodiesel put to the test on a very small scale. The bigger test, on a real full-sized biodiesel engine, is, according to researchers at ODU, really not that far away.

WAVY-TV, oct 15, 2007