Et tu, Brute: renewable energy?

Summary:The world famous Roman Baths in Bath, England contain algae that provide potentially vital clues for the wide scale production of eco-friendly alternative fuel for cars.

Researchers in Bath, England are extracting algae from the city’s renowned Roman Baths for clues on how to develop eco-friendly biofuel for cars.

The Bath algae grow in water as hot as 115 degrees Fahrenheit. It could therefore help researchers crack one of the major challenges of algae-based biofuel development: finding a strain of algae that can withstand that sort of heat.

Then, biofuel producers could grow algae in deserts, where land use would not pre-empt crops for food, according to the researchers from the University of Bath.

“Algae are usually happiest growing at temperatures around 25 degrees Celsius (77 degrees F) and that can limit the places in which it can be cultivated on a large scale. Areas where these ideal conditions are available also usually make good arable areas and are therefore needed for food production,” PhD student Holly Smith-Baedorf said in a press release.

The research team, which includes collaborators from the University of the West of England in nearby Bristol, is examining 7 different strains of algae that thrive in the baths, used by tourists today and by ancient Romans some 2,000 years ago.

They are growing the various strains at different temperatures and comparing them to ‘control’ algae known for producing biodiesel at normal temperatures, the press release states.


The team is also trying to identify algae that have an easily penetrable cell wall, that have high oil content, and that do not require a lot of energy to filter.



Wide scale deployment would provide a potentially eco-friendly alternative to hydrocarbons that, like electric motors and hydrogen, could slash automobiles’ carbon emissions. It could help mitigate the competition for land posed by some of today’s plant-based biofuels, which can rob people of vital food and water.

Image of Morte de Cesare by Vincenzo Camuccini, 1798:  Wikimedia Commons

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