TV Schedule

Running On Algae

  2. dcsmitty
  3. related topics
Algae may be ickier than corn, but it has a number of advantages. It grows much faster, multiplying its weight several-fold in the course of a day. Theoretically, one acre of algae can produce 40 times the energy produced by an acre of corn. And it doesn't need prime farmland... a brackish pool of water in a sunny area suits it just fine.

For all these benefits, algae isn't ready to take over the world. It can be fickle to grow. Useless strains of algae can infect the rest of the crop. Separating the fuel from the water is difficult. And nobody in the field can agree whether it is better to grow larger amounts of algae in cheap open ponds or in concentrated amounts in expensive, closed areas.

But one advantage may eventually tip the scales: Algae needs lots of carbon dioxide to grow fast. Start-up Greenfuel Technologies, for example, uses power-plant emissions to boost the production of algae. The company says this can cut carbon-dioxide emissions from a gas or coal plant by 80%. Turning food into fuel doesn't make much sense, but turning waste and even pollution into fuel does.
dcsmitty

5 responses // Running On Algae

  • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lvb53l_Nfys
    Great post! I saw a video about this recently and gut totally frustrated about how slow things move. We have so many solutions to a huge problem and yet there isn't any unity and pressure to get this concepts up and running on any meaningful scale!

    I included the video I am talking about.
    phillyharper
  • http://www.valcent.net/i/misc/Vertigro/Vertigro.mov
    Right, click this link! Vertigro Energy, Valcent's algae-to-biofuel technology mass produces algae for vegetable oil which is suitable for refining into a cost-effective, non-polluting biodiesel.
    dcsmitty
  • http://www.loe.org/images/060113/algae1small.gif
    Smokestack emissions bubble through algae-filled tubes at MIT's Cogen plant. (Photo: Ashley Ahearn)

    "1/10th of the state of NM converted to algae production could meet all the energy demands of the US. " From phillyharper's video link.

    "We expect to produce 100,000 gallons (of vegetable oil) per acre per year," which is a much higher yield than soybeans and other plants being used for biofuel, Kertz said Wednesday. He was showing off his patented Vertigro algae-growing system to news media, El Paso city officials and others at his company's 6.2-acre research facility in the Upper Valley.


    "We think we can be cost-competitive with fossil fuels. That's our driving goal," he said.

    Valcent Products and Global Green Solutions

    Why risk Nuclear Power when we have options like this? http://current.com/items/88792339_goodbye_sun_hello_nuk...
    covelogibbs
  • Green Star Products, inc has a system that can make 16 million gallons of biodiesel a year from algae oil grown int heir own low-tech ponds with their own proprietary breed of algae. Check it out at www.greenstarusa.com
    brooksagnew
  • part of the reason soybean oil is used is that its a waste product from making soyprotien products.

    Though it seems like oil first used in some other production like frying is the best use of that sort of resource.

    Rendering plants that use glycerin should should be able to make biodiesel which generates glycerin as a byproduct
    Commentor

Add your response

Login/Registration is required to add a response.