More algae developments: sweating fuel
May 5, 2010, 08:35 AM
#1
More algae developments: sweating fuel
http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/.../?ref=business
Another algae-based production approach, but with a substantially simpler means of scavenging the produced fuel (but with all the benefits of algae production: low footprint, low production cost, consumes traditional power plant byproducts).
It's going to be a very interesting decade.
Originally Posted by NYTimes
A start-up company has broken ground on a Texas pilot plant that is supposed to produce ethanol and diesel in a radical new way: with an organism that sweats fuel.
[...]
Many companies are pursuing the development of fuel from algae that are immersed in water enriched with carbon dioxide and then soak up sunlight. The algae produce fats and lipids internally; the trick is then to crush them and harvest the oil in a way that does not use much energy. That step has not been widely commercialized.
But Joule says its organisms release their oil and survive to make more. And the diesel fuel is easy to gather because, like most hydrocarbon oils, it is lighter than water and tends to separate. Ethanol mixes with water and must be distilled, but the technology for this is widely available.
[...]
Many companies are pursuing the development of fuel from algae that are immersed in water enriched with carbon dioxide and then soak up sunlight. The algae produce fats and lipids internally; the trick is then to crush them and harvest the oil in a way that does not use much energy. That step has not been widely commercialized.
But Joule says its organisms release their oil and survive to make more. And the diesel fuel is easy to gather because, like most hydrocarbon oils, it is lighter than water and tends to separate. Ethanol mixes with water and must be distilled, but the technology for this is widely available.
It's going to be a very interesting decade.
May 5, 2010, 07:43 PM
#4
logic, its incredible all the research that is going on in alternative energy production.
if this interests you, visit AL FIN ENERGY daily, he compiles interesting developments in all phases of energy but it seems like a lot of time is in algae experiments.
if this interests you, visit AL FIN ENERGY daily, he compiles interesting developments in all phases of energy but it seems like a lot of time is in algae experiments.
May 5, 2010, 07:45 PM
#5
@goldtooth: The idea has been ramping up for a few years now; corn proved to be a good "testbed" for larger-scale deployment of ethanol use, but I don't think (well, I certainly hope) noone thought it was a good long-term solution. Algae-based ethanol production is a very slick, long-term-viable alternative to food crops; they eat CO2 (ie. coal or other large-scale fossil-fuel plant emissions) and poop (or now, "sweat") ethanol.
Awesome stuff. I expect to see more announcements from companies like this coming out of stealth mode over the next little while, especially given the political climate we're about to have regarding offshore drilling.
Awesome stuff. I expect to see more announcements from companies like this coming out of stealth mode over the next little while, especially given the political climate we're about to have regarding offshore drilling.
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