Countering the deals that lurk all around the use of combustion fuel and its effects on the environment, a greater deal of thought is gone into using alternative sources to power our vehicles. Manufacturers are slowly shifting weight to electric motorcycles in a bid for a cleaner alternative to protect the environment (and of course PR issues).

But do they really help the environment? It is a complicated topic. Considering the entire carbon footprint, including the electricity used for the vehicle, a ton of non-recyclable resources go into making them work. Coal and petroleum generate a large percentage of the electricity and electrical components including batteries are manufactured by industries that pollute even more.

So it is basically a double-edged sword. You cannot really call them eco-friendly machines then. But there is a Dutch designer, Ritsert Mans, who has developed a true eco-friendly motorcycle that makes use of algae oil to power his machine. And the frame, completely made out of wood.

Joined by his friend and scientist, Peter Mooji, the duo wanted to create a machine of transportation without having to disturb the environment's ways of work. A motorcycle that was harmonious with nature both in the way it looked and drove.

Peter developed a method for growing algae that can produce the maximum content of oil naturally. Mans also wanted to create his motorcycle using the same philosophy, keeping the most natural process in progression. It's like nature talked to him and inspired his build to demonstrate the power of this little-known fuel source.

Still a work in progress, the frame, handlebar and the swingarm is all fashioned from wood. The frame had to be strong enough to take the beat, and hence Mans made use of steam-bent birch with hemp fiber reinforced mountings, stuck together with good old wood glue.

Birch and oak were used to make the single-sided swingarm at the front that uses an oiled cork damper as a compression point in the spring. At the rear, the single-sided swingarm sees a solid oak wood construction with cork between the arm and the frame that facilitated travel.

Spoked 23" front and 21" rear wheels were few of the nonwoods and had drum brakes to stop this earthy machine. The handlebar doesn't get a 3D CAD design but instead gets chipped out of a hemp fiber and birch block by hand.

The powerplant is honestly not a biggie. It is a regular 500cc single cylinder diesel engine that needs no pre-treatment of any sorts to run algae oil. Can't say much about the chemical process as to why it can replace diesel without having to tinker any elements.

As algae burns inside the ICE, the only major component exiting the exhaust is CO2. Yes, putting CO2 into the environment is harmful, but the amounts we talking here is minuscule. And moreover, the amount of CO2 emitted exactly equals the amount of CO2 the algae took up from the atmosphere to make oil.

Ritsert Mans gave all of his organic approach into this build without having to take the support of computer simulations and designs. He does not even have a working computer apart from his smartphone. To achieve all this with just his intuition and knowledge is some inspiration to take from.