Motorcycle Made of Wood and Running on Algae Oil Developed
A motorcycle made of wood and powered by burning algae oil has been developed.
The motorcycle is the work of designer Ritsert Mans and scientist Peter Mooij. The two friends hatched a plan to produce an algae oil powered wooden motorcycle to highlight one of the options for moving away from traditional fuels. Ritsert Mans developed the wooden motorcycle while Peter Mooij grew algae and harvested it for fuel. The chassis is made of wood, including its single-sided front end.
The motorcycle was built to accompany Peter Mooij’s new book, titled De Dikke Alg (or ‘The Thick Algae’) which examines the role algae could play in a sustainable future.
With the increased awareness of the dangers of climate change, the call for a ‘biobased’ society is increasingly urgent. Microalgae could play an important role in this because they can produce oil in a sustainable way – which a friend with his self-built wooden motorcycle wanted to power his official world speed record on a beach.
Peter Mooij also explains how microscopically small microalgae played an essential role in the development of life of earth, why he thinks they are the most important living organisms today, and how he believes algae eventually save the world.
