The first international conference on algal energy is taking place in Europe, led by Baltic Sea and California scientists

Algae are among the fastest growing plants in the world, and about 50 percent of their weight is oil that can be used to make biodiesel for cars, trucks, and aircraft, although there are suggestions that different algae are suited to different types of fuel.

Glen Kertz, the president and CEO of Valcent Products outside El Paso in California, has previously said that he can produce about 100,000 gallons of algae oil a year per acre, compared to about 30 gallons per acre from corn or 50 gallons from soybeans.

“Algae is the ultimate in renewable energy,” Kertz told CNN last year.

The conference has been organised by Baltic Sea Solutions and an international scientific team led by Dr. Jonathan Trent, Adjunct Professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz and Science Lead for the Global Research into Energy and the Environment at NASA.

The ultimate? Why has this taken so long to explore?

Algae tests are not new – the United States Department of Energy looked into the feasibility of algae as a fuel source from the late 1970s to the mid-1990s. But the tests were then dropped as oil prices were low, and algae did not seem to be able to compete.