French researchers show that the alga Chlorella variabilis can efficiently convert medium fatty acids into petrol-like hydrocarbons. However, commercial application is still a long way off.

Searching for carbon-neutral alternatives to fossil fuels, scientists discovered the enzyme CvFAP in 2017. It is a fatty acid photodecarboxylase (FAP), an enzyme that converts fatty acids into hydrocarbons under the influence of light, and is found in Chlorella variabilis (Cv), a microalgae. The algae is particularly good at the production of long hydrocarbons (C16-C18). Now, French researchers have shown that CvFAP has a special talent for converting medium-length fatty acids (C8-C10) into medium-length hydrocarbons.