A professor at the Ateneo de Manila University (AdMU) is pioneering work on the use of algae as feedstock for biofuel, and she says her research team has already isolated species that can produce biodiesel.

Dr. Teresita Perez, chairwoman of the AdMU’s Department of Environmental Science, stresses that biodiesel can be sourced from algae, which is known locally as lumot.

She admits that the study has a long way to go but they are optimistic that there are sufficient algae to produce the oil that the country needs.

Algal oil as alternative biodiesel is not really new among energy scientists, Perez adds, and Israel has been doing work on tapping algae to produce biodiesel. Actually, kerogen is the type of petroleum or oil produced by algae in the marine environment.

“Yung oil that is being mined is mainly produced by the diatoms in the ocean. Diatoms are a kind of algae. They’re also called phytoplankton and majority of them exist on the unicellular forms. When millions and millions of these phytoplanktons decompose, their stored food in the form of oil actually goes down to the sea floor and is embedded in the sediments. It’s this algae that is contributing to the ‘oil depot’ in the marine environment,” Perez says.

Perez adds that the country’s rich biodiversity is a plus for algal research.

The fact that the country is archipelagic is a positive factor as well. Algae can grow practically in any water body, and thrives even in drainage canals.

The Ateneo professor says algae in unicellular form can yield between 40 percent and 50 percent oil when manipulated.