Uncle Sam to pond scum: I want you!

Billings Gazette
Jul 3, 12:12 PM EDT
By MIKE STARK
Associated Press Writer

LOGAN, Utah (AP) -- Somewhere among the beakers and the bubbling green-tinged tanks in this Utah State University lab, Jeff Muhs is searching for champion pond scum for Uncle Sam.

If he and others like him around the country are successful, algae-based biofuel could one day power one of the world's biggest gas guzzlers: the U.S. military.

Heady stuff for a simple sun-sucking organism. But algae's ability to grow fast and churn out fatty oils makes it an alluring prospect for a military looking to lessen its dependence on foreign oil.

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