Scientists at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, part of the Department of Energy, claim they can turn algae into crude oil in a matter of minutes.

The work, which signifies important implications for future biofuel projects, replaces the natural process, which takes millions of years.

Wet algae slurry gets processed in a chemical reactor in less than an hour, resulting in liquid crude oil at the end, along with by-products that can be fed back into the algae-growing process. The crude oil produced can later be refined using traditional refining techniques that can be turned into gasoline or other exotic fuels like aviation gas. Waste water from the process can also be processed to produce combustible gas.

The process uses high pressure chambers and temperatures of about 350 Celcius, which is potentially economical. A biofuel company called Genifuel Corp. has already licensed the technology to test out the process in a proper biofuel factory setting.