Biocrude? Algae-to-oil project aims to deliver

[Chemical Bill]

Biocrude? Algae-to-oil project aims to deliver
U.S. Energy Dept., company partner to seek cost-effective production

Updated: 2:48 p.m. ET Oct 27, 2006
A California company and a Department of Energy research lab have announced that they're teaming up to make oil out of algae — a potential fuel source that would be low on greenhouse gas emissions tied to warming.

LiveFuels Inc. says it will fund dozens of projects at Sandia National Laboratories with the aim of producing economically feasible "biocrude," aka biodiesel, by 2010.

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The company estimates that all U.S. oil imports could be replaced by biocrude grown on 20 to 40 million acres of marginal lands that exist across the country.

Sandia spokesman Mike Janes echoed that view. "Recent studies using a species of algae show that only 0.3 percent of the land area of the U.S. could be utilized to produce enough biodiesel to replace all transportation fuel the country currently utilizes," he said.

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http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15250836

[silverweb]

1. Let's hope the research goes well.

I'm picturing huge alge-growing tanks in unfertile areas good for little else, with processing plants right nextdoor. This will be interesting to follow.

[hunter]

2. Unfertile areas good for little else...

Damn right. I can't wait until we start bulldozing the strip malls, box stores, wal-marts, and mini-ranch-MacMansions to build algae farms!

:woohoo:

Of course once we do that, we won't need the algae diesel!

:woohoo:

A winning idea all around!

[NNadir]

3. China has lots of polluted lakes we could use.

They've got lots of algae over there apparently. It's amazing that they're still wandering around the middle east looking for oil contracts.

[Chemical Bill]

5. Specific strains of algae are needed.

Ones with high oil content. These tend to be crowded out by other strains in lakes, rivers, and open tanks, so enclosed tanks, in greenhouses usually, are needed.

Bill

[NNadir]

10. One wonders then why the Chinese don't grow biodiesel.

Maybe they all need your advice. It's amazing that with over one billion people, not one of them has caught on to your brilliance and wisdom.

Or maybe they've looked at the research about algae based biodiesel over the last several decades and figured the hype wasn't as good as the performance. That happens a lot.

The DOE "closeout report" is over 8 years old. It's just amazing that all of the world's trucks are not today powered by algae based biodiesel.

http://www.nrel.gov/docs/legosti/fy98/24190.pdf

One could solve the climate change problem in a few months, no?:eyes:

[Chemical Bill]

4. I like this idea!

>I can't wait until we start bulldozing the strip malls, box stores, wal-marts, and mini-ranch-MacMansions to build algae farms!

Bill

[jpak]

6. A Kiwi outfit is producing algal biodiesel from sewage effluent today

posted this a few months ago (shoulda bookmarked it)...

[XemaSab]

7. Any definition of "marginal lands?"

:shrug:

And how many acre-feet of water will we need to grow the stuff?

:shug:

[Chemical Bill]

8. McDonalds parking lots will do.

Seriously, the algae doesn't depend on soil, you build a greenhouse with a tank for algae. The water is in a closed system, so they don't use it up. That means that water needed is the acreage times, well, I don't actually know how deep, but it can't be more than a few feet, because the sunlight would be blocked by the algae.

Bill

[4dsc]

9. No mention of cost

Its easy to say we only need 20 to 40 million acres of land yet I wonder what the cost in $$$ would be?? trillions?? And who's going to pay for that?? So many unanswered questions..