The method might be the key to the widescale production of fuel from algae, which is thought to be the better option over making it from land-based crops such as soya and corn, since the yields are much greater and there is no competition with food-crop production, and provide a real alternative to a globalized world that is utterly dependent on supplies of imported crude oil.

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"There are implications to dedicating more and more crop land to fuel production rather than food production, " said Tyson Clocum of the consumer watchdog group Public Citizen.

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The report does not give an answer but some economists have made the attempt, variously citing demand from China and other developing nations, the diversion of crop use from food to fuel oil, and production constraints.

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Thanks to new crop hybrids, irrigation and other technological advances, global food production has consistently risen despite the vagaries of weather patterns.

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"Anything that reduces food miles and other carbon emissions linked to food production is normally a positive thing, " said Dr Nicola Canon, lecturer in crop sciences at the UK's Royal Agricultural College.

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