Siemens AG, Germany’s largest engineering company, said it successfully burned an algae-based biomass fuel at a power plant.

Siemens combined the fuel, made by PetroAlgae Inc., with pulverized coal at a test plant in Utah, the company said today in an e-mailed statement. The fuel resulted in emissions that were 20 percent lower than coal alone.

The maker of power generators, trains and medical scanners is branching into renewable energy because demand for devices harnessing the wind, sun and wood are expanding faster than those using coal, oil or uranium. Plant-based fuel like biocrude absorbs as much carbon as it releases when burned.

Siemens tested the biocrude in a process known as co- firing, which blends mineral-based coal with plant material such as wood or synthetic fuels. About 10 percent of the combustible material in the test was made from algae.

--Editors: Randall Hackley, Reed Landberg

To contact the reporters on this story: Jeremy van Loon in Berlin at jvanloon@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Reed Landberg at landberg@bloomberg.net

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