Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake was released way back in 1990. Yet, the game was set in the late 1990s, when a major oil crisis impacted the world economy. Okay, that's fiction. But one element of the game's plot—namely a fuel producing algae that's an alternative energy source—is not.
This week in the San Francisco Bay Area biodiesel fuel made from algae went on sale at four gas stations. First tested by military and industrial companies, this is the first alternative algae-based fuel to be available for consumers, and SFGate believes it will revolutionize the fuel industry.
It's not like Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima was the first to think of algae as an alternative energy source. Scientists have been interested in producing algae based biofuel since the 1950s, and, according to the University of Virginia, the U.S. Department of Energy broke new ground with its research between 1976 and 1996.
All that being said, some of the details between the recently launched algae fuel and what's in Metal Gear 2 seem to be different. However, it's cool that Hideo Kojima was twenty-two years ahead of his time.
One of the criticisms of the Metal Gear games is that they are simply ridiculous. It's nice to see—make that, once again see—how, yes, they have elements of reality.
Algae-based fuel on sale in Bay Area [SF Gate, Thanks Kevin for the tip!]
(Top photo: Unicorn Lynx | MobyGames)