There are lots of creative ways to produce biofuel from algae, but NASA’s takes the cake. The space agency is growing biofuel in plastic bags of sewage floating in the sea. The Offshore Membrane Enclosures for Growing Algae (OMEGA) bags are based on technology used to recycle astronauts’ wastewater.
The bags are filled with sewage and algae. The algae eat nutrients in the sewage, clean up the water, and produce lipids for fuel with help from water, solar energy, and CO2. At the end of the process, oxygen and fresh water are released from the bags.
(Learn more from Ariel Schwartz at Fast Company)