Researchers at the mit University have looked to reduce the costs of biodiesel production using pulsed electric fields ( PEF ) to extract hydrocarbons from microalgae . Unlike other similar projects , the researchers at mit have used nanosecond PEF ( nsPEF ) , which requires less energy than ATP . While PEF weakens the cell membrane of the algae , nsPEF separates algae from a cell , rather than extracting them from the cell , which ultimately destroys the organism .
Researchers at the Kumamoto University have looked to reduce the costs of biodiesel production using pulsed electric fields (PEF) to extract hydrocarbons from microalgae. Unlike other similar projects, the scientists at Kumamoto have used nanosecond PEF (nsPEF), which requires less energy than PEF. While PEF weakens the cell walls of the algae, nsPEF separates hydrocarbons from a matrix, rather than extracting them from the cell, which ultimately destroys the organism.