| Algae Algae Everywhere. So Let's Light it on FIRE! |
| Written by Hank Green | ||
| Thursday, 27 March 2008 | ||
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Wow! Seems to me like March 27th 2008 is algae's official tipping point! The news, my friends, is good. Algae is the best plant out there for converting sunlight to energy. It's 100x better at creating usable energy per acre than corn is. And tons of new and old companies are trying different strains of algae and different ways of growing them not to mention using them to clean the flue gas coming out of power plants. Algae, it turns out, eat NOx emissions without trouble, and, of course, grow much faster in higher concentrations of CO2. The only problems are sulfur dioxide, which can acidify the water (just like it does to rain) and kill the algae, and mercury, which can accumulate in the algae and make them dangerously toxic. Welcome to the future, where single-celled plants eat our pollution and power our cars. Who'd a thunk...
Comments
(5)
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written by josh , March 27, 2008
Ironically, according to wikipedia, most of our oil used to be algae a very long time ago. I guess it makes sense that it's so good at making energy and eating CO2.
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written by Anastasia , March 27, 2008
I wish people who put down biofuels would remember algae!
Hrmmmmmz
written by Monotonehell , March 28, 2008
I'm concerned with any biofuel whose use involves combusting it. Sure it shifts the reliance away from oil, but the oil problem is two fold and a lot of people seem to forget this.
One we are running out of oil. TWO that burning stuff creates carbon.
Fuel
written by josh , March 28, 2008
I've never heard of fuel you don't burn, except maybe for food, but digestion does generate heat. This is from dictionary.com
fu·el [fyoo-uhl] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation noun, verb, -eled, -el·ing or (especially British) -elled, -el·ling. –noun 1.combustible matter used to maintain fire, as coal, wood, oil, or gas, in order to create heat or power. 2.something that gives nourishment; food. 3.an energy source for engines, power plants, or reactors: Kerosene is used as jet engine fuel. 4.something that sustains or encourages; stimulant: Our discussion provided him with fuel for debate. The plants convert CO2 into O2, we burn them which puts the CO2 back. Biofuels are just carbon neutral (or much closer) Unless it's for a nuclear plant, you have to burn fuel to get the energy out of it.
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written by RhapsodyInGlue , March 28, 2008
Anastasia,
The reason many people might seem to forget algae when discussing biofuels is that it is not yet in commercial production. Unfortunately, when it is mentioned it often is covered in rather inaccurate terms, such as stating that it can produce some X thousands of gallons of fuel per acre when in reality those are simply extrapolations from a lab. No one yet has demonstrated the ability to cost effectively produce commercial quantities of algal fuel. Doing some simple calculations it's pretty hard to believe that bioreactor based algae growth would ever be cost effective and the open pond idea has numerous problems that would need to be solved before it would be cost effective. | ||
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I've been a little inundated by algae today. First I finished a chapter in 
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