With some governments around the world thinking about banning gasoline and diesel cars in the decades to come, you could be forgiven for thinking the internal combustion engine is breathing its last breath. But Japanese carmaker Mazda thinks there’s life in the old dog yet, and the company is backing a range of research projects that could see biofuels dispensed from our pumps.

The company, which is well known for its rotary-engined sports cars and the MX-5 roadster, says it thinks algae-based biofuels are “critical” if the world is to make internal combustion-powered cars carbon-neutral. Mazda says that’s because when burnt, algae biofuel only releases carbon dioxide that was soaked up from the atmosphere by the algae as it grew.

And according to the carmaker, that isn’t the only advantage. Algae fuels can be farmed on land unsuitable for agriculture, it can be grown without too much impact on freshwater resources, and can be produced using salt and wastewater. Algae-based biofuels are also biodegradable and less harmful to the environment if they get spilled.

However, Mazda says the fuels still need work, with efforts being made to improve productivity and reduce costs – both of which will be pivotal in the bid to make such fuel commercially available. As a result, Mazda is lending technical support to the combination of research into genome editing by Hiroshima University and plant physiology by the Tokyo Institute of Technology, which it hopes will lead to a breakthrough in these areas.

In a statement, Mazda said the introduction of biofuel would be important, because the company expects to continue using internal combustion engines in tandem with electric motors in around 95 percent of its cars in 2030. The company also expects liquid fuels to remain “dominant” in the automotive sector until “at least 2040.