A team of researchers from Barbados is currently working on making synthetic gasoline from a species of seaweed that is already considered invasive.
It is not Porsche, Lamborghini, Toyota and BMW that work with synthetic gasoline. So does a team of researchers in the Caribbean o-state of Barbados.
Here, it has been found that fuel can be produced from the invasive kelp species Sargasso. The researchers describe the invasive seaweed as incredibly difficult to deal with, and as something the o-state 'never dares'.
The BBC writes that.
– Tourism has suffered greatly because hotels have spent millions to tackle it. It has created a crisis, says the project's manager, Legena Henry.
The project has now come so far that a patent application has been submitted. Specifically, the research team has succeeded in getting a synthetic petrol out of waste water, seaweed and waste from a farm on the island.
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The gas that is the result of the mixture can be used by ordinary cars just fine, say the researchers. However, it requires the cars to be converted to it in the first instance.
According to the team behind the discovery, the conversion takes just four hours and costs 2,500 dollars, equivalent to just under 18,000 Danish kroner.
Sargasso seaweed isn't the only invasive species that can benefit cars. Others have found that an equally harmful starfish is perfect as an alternative to road salt. And actually quite a bit more efficient. Read more about it here .
In the meantime, car factories are trying other routes to synthetic fuel. At BMW, for example, they have started to fill brand new cars with synthetic diesel.
– It will show customers that HVO 100 is a full-fledged diesel replacement. But with 90 percent lower COâ‚‚ emissions overall, says BMW's managing director Oliver Zipse.
However, there are also those who believe that any kind of synthetic gasoline and diesel for passenger cars is nothing more than a waste of time and resources. That was said by Volkswagen's CEO Thomas Schäfer as recently as March this year.
