UM researchers get algae biofuel grant

Ann Arbor – University of Michigan researchers will use a $2 million Energy department grant toward finding ways to use algae as a biofuel source for diesel engines.

The Ann Arbor school says they will work with Penn State University researchers to evaluate how best to grow algae, transform it into a diesel fuel and maximize its performance during the combustion process.

Algae-based biofuels are seen as an environmentally friendly alternative to traditional diesel fuels, which produce high levels of greenhouse gases when they burn.

Biology professor Bradley Cardinale says the researchers are “one of the first teams in the world to go all the way from designing sustainable biofuel feedstocks in outdoor ponds, to refining fuel so that it runs a diesel engine in a cleaner, more environmentally friendly way.”