If Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) and all the independent power producers (IPPs) in Malaysia were to grow engineered algae as feedstock in bio-reactors at their power stations to produce bio-diesel and also bio-ethanol, our electricity tariffs need not be increased but could be reduced instead.

This is because the income from the sale or re-use of bio-diesel and bio-ethanol at these power plants could offset some of the cost of natural gas or other fuels being used by them to produce electricity.

The tapping of engineered algae to produce bio-diesel and bio-ethanol has the best potential of great success because algae is very oily (it has about a 50% oil composition), it is the fastest growing organism and it becomes very dense enough to be harvested three times a day.

It feeds only on waste gas such carbon dioxide and some nutrients and sunlight and grows very fast.

Complete algae to bio-diesel and bio-ethanol productions systems have been made successfully in the US, Australia, New Zealand and elsewhere. The absorption of carbon dioxide (CO2) to grow algae and then produce bio-diesel has also benefitted the environment in terms of reducing greenhouse gases causing global warming. This translates into green credit points for Malaysia as well.

I would also like to point out that the Malaysian bio-diesel using palm-oil as feedstock is fine but be warned that it could become obsolete and non-competitive very shortly when out up against engineered algae as feed stock.