(CNN) - A scientist in India is taking energy efficient automobiles to the next level.
He has developed a mechanism that would actually eat carbon dioxide emitted by vehicles.
Scientist, Dinabandhu Sahoo is trying to prove the smallest of things can help solve one of the world's biggest problems. For 25 years, he's been peering into microscopes at algae, the organisms many of us see as unwanted pond scum. But he among other scientists have discovered this green looking goo can actually be a weapon against global warming.
"They're beautiful Microscopic to Macroscopic. You can find them very very small under the microscope. You can also see the algae which can grow up to 70 meters long in the ocean like your giant kelp," says Dinabandhu Sahoo.
He's using "beautiful" algae to create what amounts to a carbon eating car. It works like this-- algae is poured into a container on the car. The tail pipe is fitted with a device that channels the exhaust through a tube and into the clear container. The carbon dioxide coming out of the tail pipe goes directly into the container. Sahoo says algae can capture carbon dioxide and with water and sunlight the algae multiplies and oxygen is produced as a by-product! Bye-bye greenhouse gases. Hello pure oxygen. Sahoo made this rough prototype with 500 dollars, and fixed it to his old car.
"The obvious problem with this invention is nobody really wants this on top of their nice car. But the inventor says with help from the automobile industry it will become much more sleek and desirable. They have been all trying for the hybrid cars, hydrogen cars which are very, very expensive and this is a very simple device which can be fitted into the car, says Sahoo.
When it's time to replace the contents of the box with new algae solution. Scientist Sahoo says the waste can be turned into biofuel, which could in turn power vehicles. Worldwide hundreds of millions of dollars have been poured into biofuel research. But there are experts who say they don't think algae based biofuels would perform well in vehicles.
Then, there is the issue of building the infrastructure to create the biofuel, which would be hugely expensive. It would require a great deal of investment from industry and government policy to encourage its use still Sahoo hopes his relatively cheap invention can help to cure the world's rising temperature with seaweed.
