With all of the downsides of corn-based biofuel now widely known, eco-friendly motorists are anxious to hear a little good news from the developers of so-called second-generation biofuels. One of the most promising of these new, non-food-based fuels comes from algae, which scientists have been breeding and researching since the Carter Administration. The March cover story at Green Fuels Forecast tells of the National Renewable Energy Labs Aquatic Species Program (ASP), which has been looking for biodiesel-producing algae since 1978, and is now providing the backbone of technology for some frenzied venture capital activity. When the program started, it was estimated that all of America's transportation and home-heating needs could be met by 15k square miles of algae farms. Of course in the 90's as petroleum costs dipped, the Clinton Administration axed the ASP in favor of further ethanol research. Now, the government's abandoned investment is attracting the big boys: Chevron, Shell and others are forming partnerships with start-ups who are building on the ASP's knowledge base. The upsides? Algae needs only sun and C02 to produce the oil which can be burned as fuel or used in a number of other applications which currently require petroleum products. In other words, the perfect fuel source for your favorite Waterworld-esque, post-apocalyptic fantasy.
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Of course in the 90’s as petroleum costs dipped, the Clinton Administration axed the ASP in favor of further ethanol research.
Gee, thanks Bill! Not.
This would certainly be streets ahead of the current hare-brained idea of converting FOOD into FUEL. It would also remind interested spectators that ethanol (or hydrogen, or whatever) is not the only biofuel, and thus not entitled to endless subsidies.
Not that this technology is without its problems. In desert locations, as shown in the figure, evaporation easily exceeds 5 mm/d. So that 15k square miles will require ~51 billion gallons of water per day just to prevent it from running dry. And that 15k square miles seems like an optimistic estimate, as this knowledgeable critic explains.
Biodiesel is also not a particularly great technology. Green diesel eats its lunch, as it produces a superior product (chemically identical to the crude-based version) and can be produced in existing refineries with relatively minor modifications, Conocophillips is already doing.
How’s that for an idea out of left field: Big Oil making renewable fuels!
Who is going to make the first “no shortage of pond scum in Detroit” joke? Me? OK then.
Let’s do this algae thing.
More ethanol means 8 bucks for a box of Corn Pops.
Two points, Samir.
Engineer: “How’s that for an idea out of left field: Big Oil making renewable fuels!”
They’re going to have to, eventually.
Oh… from the headline I first thought they were going to use ground up lawyers :-)
Well actually…. the algae also needs water. It needs the oxygen molecule along with the carbon molecule in carbon-dioxide.
The volumes of algae they need require a LOT of water. And since the oxygen in the water is used, they will need a continued source of water to replace that which is used. The energy it takes to make fresh water out of salt will negate the energy produced by this system.
The bottom line is that this whole thing is a way to bank solar energy in a biomass medium.
Hmmmm… I hear Greenland has a lot of melting ice which would suit this energy initiative just fine. Maybe we should consider invading them next.
As for turning food into energy. The corn used to make E85 has as much to do with the genuine article as Ben Bernake has with the idea of ‘fiscal discipline’. The two ain’t even close.
Please, can we wait for some reliable facts and well researched studies before declaring yet another ‘perfect’ fuel solution for the bandwagoneers to jump on and drag us all down into a whole new pit of doom?
For instance what about the water usage issue, as other have mentioned?
Darn it, i6. I’m telling you right now the answer is painfully simple.
Greenland. How many times have you shaked hands with a Greenlandian. If we deport them out of their own country, will anybody miss them?
I’m calling Donald Rumsfeld right now…
Yep, Bill Clinton sure did a lot for American energy independence … not. We expect that sort of thing from Republicans, but we didn’t really expect if from a nominal Democrat.
jthorner, Clinton was a Republican wasn’t he? After all he reduced government spending, cut the Federal Deficit, reduced the size of government, kept us out of lingering, endless foreign wars, right? That’s what Republicans always promise us, right?
;)
I realize the POTUS doesn’t set prices but I recall paying $0.99 a gallon for my Diesel fuel under Clinton, and the price I see for Diesel today is $4.11.
When people bitch and moan about things I always ask “What have YOU done to solve the problem?”
So when Katrina hit and fuel prices started their steady rise above $2 a gallon I told everyone I was getting off that merry-go-round and started working towards PERSONAL energy independence. I’ve been tinkering and testing my way towards home brewed fuel, saying all along that once fuel hit $4.00 a gallon I’d be able to make my own. Sure enough I’ve finally achieved that, right on time. That is what I’ve done about energy independence – declared my own.
“As for turning food into energy. The corn used to make E85 has as much to do with the genuine article as Ben Bernake has with the idea of ‘fiscal discipline’. The two ain’t even close.”
There is no special ethanol corn that is not related to food corn. What do you think they did with the corn before the government thought up the ethanol boondoggle?
I don’t know enough about the technology to make hard-and-fast declarative statements about the absolute pros and cons…but I figure scientists are on this. As for the water issues… part of the article discuss the move to “closed systems” which prevent evaporation. Also, most algaes thrive in salt water water, requiring no water treatment.
Who is going to make the first “no shortage of pond scum in Detroit” joke? Me? OK then.
No shortage in Washington either.
John
What about extracting then refining the oil? At the very least the oil has to be pressed from the algae, then the oil needs to be filtered/refined.
They squish the oil out of the algae, right? Well this is doomed to fail already. PETA will not stand for it. They are for the protection of all living things aren’t they?.. or is it just the fuzzy cute living things?
I wonder who they are going to have pose nude in response to this cruelty..
As for the water issues… part of the article discuss the move to “closed systems” which prevent evaporation. Also, most algaes thrive in salt water water, requiring no water treatment.
The salt water thing has potential, if done in the open ocean. Now we just need to figure out how to harvest the algae in the Dead Zone in the Gulf of Mexico. About the right size too. Have you seen the ruckus caused by the proposal to dose ferric to the open ocean to stimulate the growth of algae?
The “closed system” is bogus. As stated in my first link above: 3. The use of closed photobioreactors (>$100+/m2) for such applications is totally absurd. Just for reference: 15k square miles of closed photobioreactor wouls cost $3.84 trillion (10e12). Even for the Bush administration this is too expensive.
Who is going to make the first “no shortage of pond scum in Detroit” joke?
Plano, Texas also has a massive supply, judging by my former employer.
I am not an expert on corn but here is my take. Ethanol is made from field corn, corn flakes are made from a different type. Farmers are going to plant which ever pays the most so the price of your cereal will go up as field corn prices are at record levels.
There are still a lot of hurdles with algae, more than with cellulosic. For example, if it’s in open water, how do you stop other, wild algael species from interbreeding? Closed systems are expensive. etc.
David,
The hurdles are certainly there. But more than cellulosic [ethanol]? I don’t think so. If you do algae->gasification->hydrocarbon fuels (same as we use today), wild species won’t matter. You would just be interested in the fastest growers.
The high lipid content algae -> biodiesel strategy is deeply flawed, hence my opposition to it.
OTOH, the way to launch cellulosic [fuels] would be waste cellulose -> gasification -> liquid hydrocarbons. And to make it even more politically toxic: watch as Big Oil gets in on this…