THE Agricultural Research Institute, a non-profit branch of the Agriculture Ministry, wants to grow tiny algae and see if they are a good biofuels alternative to diesel.
Biofuels are a renewable energy source and can be an answer to the global problems of increasing energy needs amid dwindling non-renewable resources and climate change.
Organic material, such as soya, can be converted into burnable biofuels.
But there’s a catch: arable land is in short supply and growing crops to use as fuels is in direct competition with growing crops to eat.
And just growing enough of the stuff can be tricky, said the Agricultural Research Institute’s Polycarpos Polycarpou.
“One of the main problems with biodiesel (a kind of biofuel) is having enough raw materials to make production possible. A solution seems to be growing microalgae – present in sea water,” said Polycarpou.
Polycarpou is the co-ordinator of a three-year research project launched this week in collaboration with 12 organisations from six countries, which is 90 per cent funded by the European Union.
“We can grow microalgae on non-arable land by using sea water which we can later recycle,” Polycarpou said.
Microalgae can grow up to 300 times faster than conventional crops (such as soya) and have a life cycle of one to ten days.
This means that cultivating microalgae can be quick and productive and does not use up precious farm land.
The project “can contribute in the European Union’s long term strategic goals on energy and climate change,” Polycarpou said.
Cyprus has a binding target of meeting 13 per cent of its energy needs in 2020 from renewable energy sources.
The overall EU target is 20 per cent, with some countries going well beyond that. Sweden for example has a 49 per cent target.
Biofuels do not currently feature heavily in the island’s targets. However, Polycarpou said that if growing microalgae proved to be feasible, then it could tie in with home businesses’ carbon emissions obligations.
In 2013 a new EU regulation on carbon emissions kicks in and industries will have to buy their carbon dioxide emissions.
“Microalgae absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and industries may be able to use that to offset their emissions and then sell biofuels,” said Polycarpou.
Burning biodiesel returns the absorbed carbon dioxide to the atmosphere which is preferable to releasing carbon dioxide trapped in fossil fuel, Polycarpou said.
The Agricultural Research Institute is running the project in conjunction with the Cyprus Energy Institute.
Four other countries will also be running their own pilot plans as part of the Mediterranean Sea Basin Joint Operational Programme. Those are Italy, Malta, Lebanon and Egypt. Greece is participating as a consultant. Some €2 million has been allocated to all participating bodies.
With the EU aiming to create an almost carbon-free zone by 2050, the hope is that the microalgae project will “yield valuable information on the future of biofuels production,” Polycarpou said.
