Uncle Sam to pond scum: I want you!

LOGAN, Utah (AP)

Heady stuff for a simple sun-sucking organism. But algae’s ability to grow fast and churn out fatty oils makes it an alluring prospect for a military looking to lessen its dependence on foreign oil.

“It inherently makes sense to start there,” said Muhs, who runs Utah State’s energy lab.

Work at the lab is part of a Pentagon project aimed at fast-tracking research to eventually produce algae-based biofuel that costs less than $3 per gallon, can be produced at a rate of 50 million gallons per year and meets strict military standards.

“We believe it’s possible. We wouldn’t invest in it if we didn’t,” said Jan Walker, a spokeswoman for the Defense Advance Research Projects Agency, the Defense Department’s main research arm.

Associated Press