Algea and biodiesel

[alcimedes]

http://www.unh.edu/p2/biodiesel/article_alge.html

interesting article i read the other day on /.

basically, some researchers think they can take various forms of algea, which consist of approx. 50% oils and convert them to biodiesel. biodiesel runs in a regular diesel engine, and doesn't have the issues of sulfur emissions that regular diesel fuel does.

the best part is this algea grows well in salt water (seeing as freshwater is getting harder to come by) and would do well is large deserts.

the report estimates we could kick over to all biodiesel for a reasonable price. so what do you all think? would this be a good way to wean ourselves off of oil?

[Wrao]

Looks like a great way to wean. But, I dunno, there are so many damn cars out there, and diesel based cars aren't exactly the majority. :\

[Windswept]

I think it would be wise to approach alternative energies from as many angles as possible. That way, no 'one' catastrophe could disable our economy - say, if some blight started killing off the algae, for example.

[curiousuburb]

UBC (http://www.eya.ca/biodiesel/) in Vancouver has a test program producing biodiesel (http://www.biodiesel.org/multimedia/audiovideo/) from used cooking oil on campus.
The grounds department vehicles all run on it and the exhaust smells like french fries.

Windows Media video interview here (http://www.exn.ca/video/?Video=exn20030227-biodiesel.asx)

[Windswept]

The grounds department vehicles all run on it and the exhaust smells like french fries.

:D

[craiger77]

As in most things there is strength in diversity so not a good idea to replace other energy sources with biofuels and get locked into where we are now with fossil fuels. Bringing new sources of fuel to market though is the only way we are going to get out of the mess we are in now with depending on people who hate us for our energy supplies.

The problem with biofuels is that growing them is just another form of agriculture which takes up land and land is occupied by other living things. Even deserts have important ecosystems that would have to be destroyed in order to convert them to algea farms. There is really no energy system possible (unless you believe these fraudsters (http://www.genesisworldenergy.org/genesis_world_energy.htm)) that wouldn't have a major impact somehow if it has to maintain the worlds current energy needs let alone future needs.

A lot of people are making their own biodiesel at home (http://www.bagelhole.org/article.php/Transportation/149/) from waste vegetable oils and it is not difficult to modify current diesel engines to run on it. Most run some mix of regular diesel and biodiesel because regular diesel has some additives that help keep the engines running well.

What I don't understand is why more small diesels aren't for sale in the US. In Japan friends have a Mazda 4-wheel drive minivan that runs on diesel and gets great milage. I have wanted a diesel Toyota Landcruiser (old one, not the new luxury yuppie mobiles) for a long time, but the only way to get one here is import it from Canada which is difficult. It gets 34 miles to the gallon running diesel instead of gas.

[Kickaha]

That's one of the beautiful things about a hydrogen economy....

Since H2 and electricity are pretty bloody efficiently transformed to each other, you can generate the electricity by *ANY* method, and convert it to H2 for storage, or create the H2 chemically, and convert it to electricity for transmission.

Hydro, geo, bio, solar, and yes, even fossil - it all converts to one unified simple pair of formats that are easily used, stored, and transported.

[psmith2.0]

I'd love to see this - or things like this happen. But I also know there are big players and money and things like that in place, so I might be pissing in the wind.

:(

But to wake up one day and have plentiful, clean fuel AND not have to be dependent on a particular region or government...wow, that's the crap dreams are made of!

:)

You know how buggy makers faded away when the automobile got popular (and maybe the smarter ones adapted to the new invention and made contributions)? I kinda feel the same way about oil companies: if there's a better, cheaper, cleaner way to power our transportation, then get out the way, adapt to them or go under. I'm coming at that more from a practical, "well tough, it makes more sense" viewpoint than any "BIG OIL, AND THEIR BOY BUSH, SUX!" stance.

;)

I like oil just fine, but damn...things are getting ridiculous.

And, I admit, being able to tell a few individuals, governments or organizations to bug off - in the nicest, most diplomatic way, of course - would be kinda sweet.

[alcimedes]

yeah, pretty much every oil company wants to be an energy company, not an oil company. that way you sell whatever people want to use for power, and you keep getting rich. big corporations should be smart enough to see that. it's happened often enough in the past to be pretty obvious you need to change with the times.

[addabox]

Oh man, it would be so totally worth it just to be able to say "the algae based economy". Not to mention that we could call "gas guzzlers" "slime sucking bastards" and be technically right on the money.

As far as diesel goes, VW offers its golf, jetta and bug models with a great little diesel motor that gets something like 50MPG. The emissions are actually better than a gasoline motor, with the exception of particulate matter, a result of America's less stringent refining standards for diesel fuel (although I believe CA just passed a diesel fuel standard that addresses this). Plus, VW has a higher tech diesel motor that has been available in Europe for a while that they are going to start offering in the states.

I love the idea of home brew bio-diesel. Seems like a lot of the impact of various energy technologies arise from the concentration of production and distribution. If new technologies would allow much smaller scale, much more broadly distributed energy sourcing, the impact could be spread out so that the "per acre" (or whatever you would call it) footprint would be diffuse to the point of negligible.

Unless the algae gets out of hand. I've seen that movie, and brother, it's no picnic.

[Windswept]

Every really large, box-type, flat-roofed commercial building should provide space for solar collectors for their communities.

That would leave virtually no imprint on the environment. Every Walmart, Target, KMart, Sears, huge mall, etc., could offer roof space. The cities, energy companies, feds, and consumers could all chip in to build and maintain these solar units. Prices of solar installations would drop dramatically.

Just one more facet of a system of diverse energy sources. Yes? :)

[addabox]

Every really large, box-type, flat-roofed commercial building should provide space for solar collectors for their communities.

That would leave virtually no imprint on the environment. Every Walmart, Target, KMart, Sears, huge mall, etc., could offer roof space. The cities, energy companies, feds, and consumers could all chip in to build and maintain these solar units. Prices of solar installations would drop dramatically.

Just one more facet of a system of diverse energy sources. Yes? :)

Absolutely.

One of the great hurdles to starting now on a path to energy independence is the entrenched notion that America's vast energy needs can only be met by vast energy infrastructures-- something analogous to the oil system but with a different medium.

But what would it take to meet the energy need of my house? Solar cells, efficient insulation, solar water heating, super efficient appliances and lighting sources, wind power, maybe the neighborhood fuel cell.... it all adds up, and if I can get my house off the grid so can the guy next door.

Yes, I know all these things require power to manufacture, but so do less efficient devices and the electricity I use off the power line. I don't think we've even begun to maximize the efficiencies possible in household energy use.

A sane energy program would use every available device to hasten the creation and adoption of these technologies. New industries, new jobs, a chance to get ahead of the curve on a global growth industry...

What's the down side again? Oh, yeah, we have to let the market decide. Well, what if the market "decides" to throw us into chaos because the economic incentive to change was too little too late?-