Recently in Algae Category

I have touched on algae biofuel over the past few years, but the recent cross-country trip of the Algaeus brings attention to a biofuel that makes more sense in the long run than ethanol, biodiesel, or purely electric vehicles that burden the power grid.

The biggest problem with producing ethanol from corn and biodiesel from soy is that from the start you have a crop that takes all season to grow and then places a demand on the food stream. It generally takes more energy to produce these fuels than is extracted. Switchgrass, when used to make ethanol, still takes a season to grow.

A promising future:

• Algae grows very quickly (doubling overnight) and can be cultivated in places where crops won't grow.


• It is not a food crop that is currently a traded commodity.


• It has an appetite for carbon dioxide


• Processing and distribution uses existing infrastructure.


• The end product is gasoline that can be burned by older vehicles

About a trillion of our yearly national debt is due to a trade imbalance created by importing fossil fuels.

The U.S. has spent
...
importing fossil fuel.(zfacts.com)

ExxonMobil expects to spend more than $600,000,000 on an algea fuel project.

A US airline has completed the first test flight of a plane partly powered by biofuel derived from algae.

The 90-minute flight by a Continental Boeing 737-800 went better than expected, a spokesperson said.

One of its engines was powered by a 50-50 blend of biofuel and normal aircraft fuel.

A company in Holland is planning on producing aviation fuel from algae.

A fast growing, CO2 eating biofuel, that won't dive up the price of food like corn based ethanol and it's green mass by-product can be sold as feed for fish.

The inventor suggests building algae fuel farms next to sources of CO2, like power plants.

news.bbc.co.uk

Ben Caire, vice president of engineering for United Biofuel, Inc. in Manchester Township , referred to algae-derived biodiesel fuel as the holy grail for bio-fuel producers during a panel discussion tonight at Martin Library.

Could the answer be in a place we didn't think to look...Algae is the original oil producer on planet earth... Algae can double it's mass every few hours...The process compresses a 150 million year process into 3 days, states this video from the algae-derived biodiesel fuel company Solazyme

Successful powering a factory-standard automobile for long distances under typical driving conditions has been completed. The car and fuel will make their public debuts at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival.

More information.
prnewswire.com