A small development team in North Wales has created a box, which they claim can convert captured car exhaust gases into usable biofuel. The device fits underneath the car and replaces the catalytic converter by trapping greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide and emits mostly water vapor.

The captured material can then be processed into biofuel using special genetically modified algae. Scientists actually discovered the phenomena by accident while experimenting with carbon dioxide to help boost algae growth for fish farming, Reuters reports.

Its inventors claim the device could one day be installed on cars, buses, trucks and eventually buildings and heavy industry, including power plants. They have now set up a small company, Maes Anturio Limited, to develop the technology and are seeking capital to fund the project. A possible future scenario would see drivers replacing the 'Greenbox' when filling up their tank at fuel stations, with the waste sent off to a bioreactor where it's fed to algae and converted into bio-oil.