The production of algae is one of the solutions to the world’s climate crisis, says Bellona President Frederic Hauge.

On Monday, inquisitive spectators finally saw how it felt under the canopy on the dock outside the Hall Toll in Stavanger. The canopy had been laid there for a day, and the intrigue was high when Bellona President Frederic Hauge unveiled a genuine algae reactor.

“This is the beginning of out-competing StatoilHydro,” said Hauge.

On Monday, he signed a cooperation agreement with the AlgaeLink company.

AlgaeLink’s director, Peter Van den Dorpel, was also on hand for the unveiling in Stavanger.

Solution oriented
Bellona says that algae production could be one of the answers to the challenge of global warming. The quick-maturing microscopic organisms can give off a large quotient of energy.

Bellona is a solution oriented environmental organisation with a technological focus, and says that production of energy and fuel by cultivating algae has potential to substitute today’s fossil solutions quickly and without significant upheaval.

Algae can be cultivated in regions that are not well suited for food production, and therefore do not come into conflict with the world’s food demand – something that bio-fuels have come under fire for.

Test facility
The algae reactor is a test facility developed by the Dutch company AlgaeLink. The company is in the beginning stages of commercialising the technology, and is cooperating with, among others, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines.

The algae reactor measures four meters by six meters, takes 3,000 liters, can run on both fresh and salt water, and is powered by less than 1 kilowatt of electricity

The algae reactor will be taken from the dock in Stavanger to the Offshore Northern Seas (ONS) on Tuesday.

A powerful unveiling
The unveiling of the algae reactor took place during Bellona’s seminar on the ONS oil gathering in Stavanger, and Bellona was warming up a day before the official opening with an invitation to the seminar on how the dinosaur fossil industry will be compelled toward a turn-around to renewable energy in order to survive.

Hauge’s long awaited Tesla electric sports car also made the trip to Stavanger in connection with the Bellona-ONS seminar. With the canopy bound fast to the Tesla, it was a unique and powerful unveiling when the Tesla hit the gas.

The Tesla Roadster is the world’s first electric sports car. It goes from 0 to 100 kilometers an hour in four seconds, has a 365-kilometer range, and needs to charge for four hours.

Algae a peek at the future
Bellona first launched algae as one of several possible solutions to the climate crisis in June. At the international Climate Conference ’08 (CC8) in Sarpsborg, Norway, Bellona launched its report “The Bellona Scenario: How to Combat Global Warming,” which showed that it was possible to cut at least 85 percent of the world’s CO₂ emissions with the help of already existing technology. Algae technology is one viable route.