A university professor from the Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, University of Sheffield, has been awarded the Royal Society Brian Mercer Award for Innovation, for his development of "unique bioreactor for use in the production of alternative renewable fuels". Professor William Zimmerman leads the research team in the bioreactor development. The bioreactor can be used for the cultivation of microorganisms which produce compounds that can be processed (or even directly used) as biofuel. An example would be the cultivation of oil-bearing algae or oleaginous algae, whose oils can be chemically processed into biodiesel. According to the University of Sheffield news release, the team "devised an air-lift loop bioreactor which creates microbubbles using 18% less energy consumption than existing methods. Microbubbles are miniature gas bubbles of less than 50 microns diameter in water. They are able to transfer materials in a bioreactor much more rapidly than larger bubbles produced by conventional bubble generation techniques and they consume much less energy. The team´s unique adaption of the bioreactor and creation of microbubbles has the potential to revolutionize the energy-efficient production of biofuels". Application tests of the developed bioreactor are on-going.