Not many people imagine that resource-poor Japan might one day become an oil exporter. But someone who does is Makoto Watanabe, a leading expert in research on producing oil from microscopic algae.
Research into creating biofuel from so-called microalgae may well grow more important as Japan looks for other energy sources to help reduce the reliance on nuclear power in light of the crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 power plant.
"If we can develop technology that taps the potential of microalgae to the fullest extent, Japan may become a country that can export oil," the 63-year-old professor at the University of Tsukuba in Ibaraki Prefecture said at his lab.