Wooden Motorcycle Powered by Algae Oil

Dennis Chung
by Dennis Chung

There’s going green, and then there’s this: a motorcycle made of wood that runs on an engine that burns algae oil. This motorcycle was a project of a couple of guys from the Netherlands, designer Ritsert Mans and scientist Peter Mooji. The bike was built to accompany Mooji’s new book, titled “De Dikke Alg,” or “The Thick Algae,” which examines the role algae could play in a sustainable future.

The two friends hatched a plan to produce a wooden motorcycle that runs on algae oil. Mans developed the motorcycle while Mooji grew algae and harvested it for fuel. The chassis is made of wood, including its funky-looking single-sided front end. Mans then took the motorcycle out for its first test run on a beach:

Here’s a clip of the engine starting up for the first time:

Posted by Ritsert Mans on Friday, May 5, 2017

De Dikke Alg is available now, though only in Dutch.

Peter zorgt voor de olie, ik bouw de motorfiets. Lees meer over de algenolie en en de houten motorfiets in #dedikkealg video online soon! #lebowskipublishers #mansmaakt foto: Jesse Kraal fotografie

Posted by Ritsert Mans on Tuesday, May 2, 2017

Dennis Chung
Dennis Chung

Dennis has been a part of the Motorcycle.com team since 2008, and through his tenure, has developed a firm grasp of industry trends, and a solid sense of what's to come. A bloodhound when it comes to tracking information on new motorcycles, if there's a new model on the horizon, you'll probably hear about it from him first.

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  • Fivespeed302 Fivespeed302 on May 16, 2017

    Cool bike, but was the helmet & leather jacket really necessary for a 5 mph test run?

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    • Fivespeed302 Fivespeed302 on May 17, 2017

      If I'm going 5 miles an hour on the beach on any mode of transportation, it's flip flops and board shorts brother!

  • Starmag Starmag on May 17, 2017

    I read this pining to knot be board, but I'm stumped as to what problem this wood address. Perhaps they will use this as a starting point to branch out into something more useful.

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