NZ firm makes bio-diesel from sewage in world first

[Banks 0]

The New Zealand Herald is running a story about a NZ firm that has successfully made bio-diesel from "wild" algae (not grown in a lab).

To date, algae-derived fuel has only been tested under controlled conditions with specially grown algae crops, said spokesman Barrie Leay.Aquaflow's algae, however, were derived from excess pond discharge from the Marlborough District Council's sewage treatment works. Algae take most chemicals out of sewage, but having too many of them taints the water and produces a foul smell.Creating fuel from the algae removes the problem while producing useful clean water, said Mr Leay. The clean water can then be used for stock food, irrigation and, if treated properly, for human consumption.

This is pretty awesome news. They expect to be able to produce 1 million litres of the fuel by April. Sure that's a drop in the bucket as far as our world consumption goes but it certainly seems to be a great resource that lends itself to generating much more than that and with environmental BENEFITS rather than drawbacks.