Israel's Seambiotic is employing algae as a biofuel that could also reduce pollution from coal power plants. Executives said the method channels carbon dioxide emissions from coal-burning smokestacks through pools of skeletonema algae, which in turn converts to fuel.

Executives said Seambiotic's prototype algae farm in Ashkelon, a $2 million investment, could lead to the company's first large-scale biofuel reactor in 2008 in cooperation with companies from either India, Italy, Singapore or the United States.

Algae was said to be capable of manufacturing 30 times more oil than crops currently used for biofuel production.