The original source of carbon in fossil fuel oil, algae, is now eyed to be extensively developed as a substantially economical biofuel feedstock in the Philippines.

A Filipino National Program leader of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) said microalgae biofuel can well replace much of the country’s fuel requirement as much as algae is studied to displace the US’s fuel oil needs.

"Considering our limited land area, we can go for microalgae (which has) the highest energy content. Microalgae needs a very small area (but will) satisfy your fuel requirement because its biomass is 50 percent oil. (Its use in the US is) not significant at the moment. But the US will only use 0.2 percent of its land area to meet all liquid fuel needs," said the USDA’s Dr. Catalino A. Blanche in an interview.

Blanche said he has touched based with some investigators at the Marine Science Institute (MSI) who have started developing marine algae as potential source of fuel.

Among marine species being studied for algae biofuel worldwide are the Botryococcus braunii, Chlorella, Dunaliella tertiolecta, Gracilaria, Pleurochrysis carterae, and Sargassum.

US biofuel producer MicroAlgae Technologies said that the use of this technology is economically advantageous as algae cells can divide once daily and "create up to 1,000 times more biomass per hectare" than other biofuel crops like corn or sugarcane.

Blanche said the country has advantage in using its marine resource as source of fuel.

"I think Gisel Concepcion (of MSI and) a group that studies marine algae and freshwater algae (are already working on it). The marine (algae fuel source is) interesting because you can just harvest the sea for this microalgae," he said.

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory of the US has been looking at an extensive use of algal fuel since algae is estimated to have an oil yield of 1,200 to 10,000 gallons per acre which isthe highest yield among 10 crops studied.

This study showed a comparative yield per acre of only 18 gallons for corn, 35 gallons for cotton, 48 gallons for soybean, 61 gallons for mustard seed, 102 gallons for sunflower, 127 for rapesee, and 202 for jatropha. The crop that comes closest to algae is oil palm at 635 gallons.

Blanche said that a pilot project can be done on algae biofuel by studying spirulina and see how much it can produce per unit area.

"You can culture it in a small container, in barrels or whatever. These multiply very quickly, you’re talking about weeks, days. I don’t know how you can transition, but plain and simple what you produce is biodiesel. You can use it for ethanol because 50 percent is oil, 50 percent is sugar as well as proteins so it can be a good source for food," he said.

Previous studies indicated that while algaculture for vegetable oil may cost more per pound, it can yield 30 times more anergy per acre. The US Department of Energy, which funded a research on algae for fuel since 1978, indicated that the US needs 40,000 square kilometers of land for algae to supply all its fuel needs.

Another potential biofuel source for the Philippines are many cellulosic materials coming from any organic material like sugarcane bagasse, Blanche said.

"It’s being used in many countries – Japan, Europe. In Germany, people started going crazy (in using cellulosic materials for ethanol that) most of the crops being used for making beer are now being used for fuel. But some people claim this is not the best way to do it because ‘we’re depriving our countrymen of the beer that they drink.’"

Instead of debating on whether to use organic materials for food or fuel, he said this should be left for the farmers to choose – on where they can maximize their income.

Blanche, who plans to go back to the Philippines after his longer stint at the USDA, likewise plans to work in the Philippines on controlling infestation of beetle on trees and on nanomaterials.

"I discovered how beetles kill trees. (So) you know exactly how you can develop a mechanism to control beetle infestation."

He is interested in nanomaterials – in isolating nanocrystals from woody or forest wood materials – which can be substitutes for fiberglass (such as those used in automotive or aircrafts). He can work with the Mariano Marcos State University on this.

"If you have wood chemists who knows ways in degrading materials and putting materials in nanoscale material, you can develop nanocrystals which are much stronger than steel," he said.