Article by Ronie J. Calugay

Among the hundreds of thousands of species of microalgae, a superhero is on the rise — meet Botryococcus braunii! This single-celled superscum which clusters in colonies produces a higher amount of a substance called hydrocarbon, which closely resembles the various contents of crude oil from fossil fuels, than the fatty acids that other microalgae produce. Invisible traces of Botryococcus braunii from soil and oil well samples were recently detected and analyzed by biogeochemists revealing new information that this microorganism contributed to the chemical formation of crude oil millions of years ago. The other special power of this microalga is, unlike other microalgae, it does not accumulate oil inside its cell but pumps it out! This eliminates the time and cost of extracting out the oil. The patent for this oil-excreting microalgae belongs to a Nobel laureate for the development of renewable energy from the University of California, Berkeley, Dr. Arthur Nonomura.

Source: The Philippine Star

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