We usually don’t report on the renewable energy or environmental impact beat, but sometimes you see something that is just too cool not to share. Algaeus, the world’s first algae-powered plug-in hybrid car, was unveiled in San Francisco last week. The pet project of algae fuel producer, Sapphire Energy, Algaeus is so efficient that SE is claiming it could make an entire coast to coast cross country trip on as little as 25 gallons of fuel. Just to prove it, the prototype will be traveling with a host of other ‘green’ vehicles to tour the US and promote alternative fuel. Check out a brief video from AutolineDetroit after the break.
This car is traveling across the country...on algae based fuel. Cool.
According to the press release, the coast to coast trip will be a ten day journey (September 8 -18) that culminates in the nationwide premier of the new movie Fuel by Josh Tickell of Veggie Van fame. See the trailer below. While the media coverage of the movie is sure to be hyperbolic, I’m much more interested in the premises behind Sapphire Energy. This San Diego based company hopes to use its algae-based fuel to work in the three major petrol markets: gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel. They plan on ramping up production to a rate of than 2 million gallons of diesel per year in the next two years. That’s a small blip on the petroleum market, but a blip that is arriving much sooner than many expected.
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