Gotta Love Algae
I think there is mindset that the only good farmers are dirt farmers – certainly they are the most experienced. Indeed, all of our consumed vegetation come from land-based farming (there is some kelp and algae harvesting but it is insignificant). That is primarily because of economics – dirt farming is the least expensive form of farming. Now there is a new farmer on the horizon – the aqua farmer. We already have a small aqua ranching industry (fish and shrimp) but this is poised (much like the land-based operations) to be MUCH larger.
The part you may be interested in is the use of the product – fuel instead of food. According to some estimates the yield (in gallons of fuel) on an acre of algae is over 100 time that of land-based crops. There are even greater claims but let’s stick to more widely accepted figures. Allegedly, you can get 15,000 gallons of fuel from alge but only 150 gallons (both per acre) from the better producing traditional crops. If you can make these season independant so much the better.
This has been developing for years. In the ’90’s there was talk of using algae to convert water to hydrogen. Photosynthesis is, after all, that exact process. Well, there must have been problems – it didn’t happen. Don’t give up hope – some people are still trying. The energy problem got worse and farmed biofuel was developed. Petroleum is a biofuel but it has fallen out of favor due to the deleterious effects of the processing and additives. Petroleum oil is a crude form of energy, much like a tree is.
The advantage of petroleum and trees is they are convenient. We took centuries to develop the use of them. To this date we are still making the use of them more efficient. Sadly, the efficiency effort didn’t get started until recently due to the abundance of the fuel. There is a lot more efficient use we could make of wood and “oil” but the tide may have turned. I think for the better.
It turns out oil is basically oil. Petroleum, animal, or vegetable, oil has very similar properties. The oil in the ground is the cheapest but demand, and political influences, have increased the cost. That opens the door for other considerations. Enter algae.
Since the ’00s algae has attacted attention as a feedstock for fuel producers (as I said, biofuel is a misnomer since petroleum is a biofuel). It has advantages:
- 1. You don’t have to have arable land.
- 2. You don’t have to have potable water.
- 3. It appears to reproduce better than rabbits.
Now, is there any economic viability? One would think so.
To their credit, neo-fuel producers have tried to be feedstock independent. It is to their advantage to be able to process the cheapest material available (it may go back to petroleum). Personally, I think there is enough energy discarded in the waste from our restaurants to fuel half of America (let alone feed it) but extracting that energy (perhaps mostly in transportation) is the equation. The closer you can buid a factory to its source the better. As well, the closer you are to the user the better. An energy producer who is an energy consumer benefits the most. One would think this is fundemental business, but it seems to have escaped the MBA programs. This is the centralized vs. distrbuted model debate. We’ll see who wins. In our “new” world I’m betting it will be distributed (that doesn’t mean centralized was wrong when it was created).
Here is an article about a small company testing the waters.
http://www.insidegreentech.com/node/318/print
Another company that has focused on using algae to remove CO2 from smokestacks (which, I presume, their clients now do using a different process) has had some success. I thought there was an evaluation in Chicago as well – but I couldn’t find a link.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12834398/
Universities are always in the picture.
Colorado
http://www.ncbr.com/article.asp?id=84298
New Mexico
http://www.nmsu.edu/~ucomm/Releases/2007/january/algae_biodiesel.htm
I’m certain there are others (at least in coastal states) but I did not look too hard. We have a long way to go “harvesting the sea”.
All that said, the driving force is economics. The government can artificially bend the economic rules but reality eventually wins.
- Posted in : Renewable Energy
- Author :Rt
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