MCROALGAE AS A source of renewable biofuel has been a tanta-lizing idea for far longer than most people realize. In the 1950s, Meiers research into micro-algae as a source of methane gas was published. Interest in microalgae and other renewable sources of energy was reignited in the 1970s with the oil crisis as the impetus for the creation of the U.S. Department of Energy (U.S. DOE), the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and the Biofuels Program. Within the Biofuels Program, the Aquatic Species Program (ASP) looked at microalgae species and its viability as a potential renewable energy source from 1978 to 1996. Although only a total of US$25 million was invested during the two decades of research, it produced a wealth of information on microalgal species and technologies that can be used to produce fuel. However, the conclusion in 1996 was that the technology was not cost-competitive with petroleum-based products.
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