IRELAND COULD play a significant role in international moves to develop ways of converting seaweed into biofuel, according to NUI Galway scientists.
The 7,500km coastline of Ireland is rich in marine algae which do not have the "negative image of terrestrial biomass resources", Dr Stefan Kraan, manager of NUI Galway's (NUIG) Irish seaweed centre, has said.
Seaweed's potential as a source of bioethanol is one of the themes of an international conference which the centre is hosting this week.
Ireland has some 501 species of seaweed - or sea vegetable as referred to in Asia - and 16 of these are used commercially.
The algae have a wide range of applications in food and food supplements, fertilisers, liquid seaweed extracts, soil conditioners and animal feed supplements.
Marine algae also provide raw material for seaweed polymers (alginates), cosmetics, body-care products, thalassotherapy or sea water and seaweed treatments, medical preparations, biotechnology and biomedicine.
Bioethanol is drawn from crops such as sugar cane and corn, but technological barriers have precluded its commercial use, according to Dr Kraan.
Researchers in Japan, and in European states like Denmark, have already conducted bioethanol production studies on a number of aquatic plants, and current technologies will be discussed at the International Society for Applied Phycology conference in Galway.
Keynote speaker Prof Michael A Borowitzka from Australia's Murdoch University says a number of species of algae are more productive, have a higher oil content and can grow in saline waters. This has created a "frenzy of interest" due to the energy potential.
He says other bioenergy crops, such as rapeseed, are said to be generating higher food prices and having negative impacts on water-use, rain forests and biodiversity.
"For biofuel production the algal biomass needs to be produced at a cost of around one US dollar or less per kg," says Prof Borowitzka. "To achieve this ambitious goal there is the need for year-round reliable high-productivity algal culture."
Dr Kraan says the conference will discuss the economic and social aspects of using brown seaweeds for bioethanol production, and will share views on the feasibility of biofuel production drawn from macroalgae.
He says Ireland's location off western Europe and surrounded by "clean seas" is a "major selling point to the world market".
Over 400 delegates are due to attend the conference, which runs all week at NUIG's Martin Ryan Institute.
