USDA researchers find algae can produce oil from unmarketable crops

In Hawaii, at the Daniel K. Inouye U.S. Pacific Basin Agricultural Research Center in Hilo, Agricultural Research Service (ARS) plant pathologist Lisa Keith has spent the past 5 years fine-tuning conditions under which Chlorella protothecoides algae can be coaxed into producing oil from discarded papayas and other unmarketable crops or byproducts, like glycerol. The effort is part of a zero-waste system being championed and supported by the Hawaii Department of Agriculture (HDOA) to ease the Island State’s reliance on imported oil for its fuel and energy needs.