We believe we have found a recipe that could open a new door to producing jet fuel from ocean algae.
We are not claiming some Rumplestiltskinesque hay-into-gold finding—but rather a first step worth exploring. We took a closer look at a certain type of algae, which contain a class of fascinating and overlooked chemical compounds that most algae do not have. In a study published Jan. 26, 2015, in the American Chemical Society’s journal Energy & Fuels, we reported on a process to transform these compounds into components used in jet fuel.