Converting Algae Into Fuel

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solar panels of UT 3:46AM August 24, 2012

In regards to your first point: the idea here is that the algae could be grown in areas that crops could not be grown in, and thus not cut into food supplies/compete with food-crops.
In regards to your second point: algae that have been tweaked to produce bio-fuels could never survive in the wild. This is because they spend more energy on producing fuel for human use then they spend on growing and reproducing, so if there ever was a "leak" of the fuel-algae into the ocean or elsewhere, they would be out-competed by native species and die off. Additionally, any fatty-acids secreted by the algae into the wild would be easily metabolized by other single-celled organisms already present in the wild. Crude oil cannot be metabolized or broken down easily (hence the need for refineries to pull out the components that are useful) and this is why oil spills are such a huge disaster. Something that can be broken down easily, like these fatty acids, would be rapidly consumed by the existing ecosystem, and therefore wouldn’t present a problem.
In regards to your third point: please quantify and provide a source for your "energy negative" accusation. Are you sure you're not thinking of ethanol? According to my research, fuel from algae has the potential to be very “energy positive” since many algae species produce an oil-like substance as part of their natural growth cycle, which can be extracted and easily converted into fuel.

Engineer of CO 6:27PM February 10, 2011

Sunlight and land used by algae is sunlight not used by food crops.
If economic pressure forces researchers to tweak algae to produce hydrocarbons instead of lipids and *that* gets into the wild, the recent gulf oil spill will look like a little "oopsie."
Any realistic accounting of the energy used to make algae fuel shows it to be close to energy-negative.
Anyone telling you anything else wants you to invest in either their penny stock or their company.

i of TX 3:54PM August 04, 2010

This could definitely become a part of the energy solution of the future but everything needs to be kept in relative terms and scale needs to be pragmatic. Excess algae that can be turned into biofuels would be great but we cannot create excess then convert it- many times that takes more energy to create than we put in. Just something to be careful of.
-California Solar Engineering
www.calsolareng.com

CalSolarEng of CA 11:51AM August 04, 2010

Algae is renewable, does not affect the food channel and consumes CO2. To learn about the fast-tarck commercialization of the algae production industry you may want to contact the National Algae Association. The NAA's engineering consortium is working on the design of the first 100 acre algae production plant in the US.

b cole of TX 2:54PM August 03, 2010

Algae is much better than most other biofuel crops. That being said, the only time it makes sense is sea water growth. Fresh water is to scarce for the massive amount that would be needed. Furthermore, it would still take an area the size of the state of Texas for meet our transportation needs. It might be a very good investment for aviation purposes. That much we may be able to accomplish.

H. Hayne Crum, III of AL 2:29PM August 03, 2010