Algae could become reliable jet fuel source

Dallas Morning News
12:00 AM CDT on Sunday, June 7, 2009
By ED TIMMS / The Dallas Morning News etimms@dallasnews.com

Seawater algae – a cousin to pond scum – may someday become a significant source of fuel for military jets and airliners, and at the same time rejuvenate farmlands where tumbleweeds fill old irrigation ditches and abandoned cotton gins bake in the Texas sun.

Algae farmers conceivably could become the newest breed of Texas oilmen. For now, that's still a very big "if." Several scientific and technical obstacles must be overcome before the tiny plantlike organisms, which create unsightly rings on boat hulls and slime on fish tanks, can be turned into a viable fuel.

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