TheCultofAbeLincoln
9th November 2008, 07:38
This is a bit old (as in not 'breaking news'), but I just found out about it.
From the industry lobby:
The world needs a radical new solution. Not fossil fuels. Not biodiesel. And not ethanol or any other crop- or sugar-based biofuels that have a direct impact on food prices, the destruction of cropland, fresh water reservoirs and the rainforest.
Picture a domestic economy built on completely renewable, carbon-neutral products produced directly from CO2 and sunlight, efficiently generating a new kind of crude oil from one of the world's oldest, most adaptable plants: algae.
Introducing Green Crude Production.
Products and processes in this category:
http://www.greencrudeproduction.com/img/bullet.gifare made directly from CO2 using photosynthesis
http://www.greencrudeproduction.com/img/bullet.gifdo not result in biodiesel or ethanol
http://www.greencrudeproduction.com/img/bullet.gifenhance, replace petroleum-based products
http://www.greencrudeproduction.com/img/bullet.gifare ASTM compliant
http://www.greencrudeproduction.com/img/bullet.gifdo not require food crops or agricultural land
http://www.greencrudeproduction.com/img/bullet.gifare carbon neutral and renewable
http://www.greencrudeproduction.com/img/bullet.gifsupport domestic energy independence
And, to make the market really work, the process must be economically scalable and conform to the existing petroleum infrastructure, from refinement through distribution and the retail supply chain.
http://www.greencrudeproduction.com/solution.html
Algae fuel, also called algal fuel, oilgae, algaeoleum or third generation biofuel, is a biofuel (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biofuel) from algae (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algae). Compared with second generation biofuels, algae are high-yield high-cost (30 times more energy per acre than terrestrial crops) feedstocks (http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/feedstock) to produce biofuels. Since the whole organism uses sunlight to produce lipids, or oil, algae can produce more oil in an area the size of a two-car garage than an entire football field of soybeans (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soybean).
The United States Department of Energy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Department_of_Energy) estimates that if algae fuel replaced all the petroleum fuel in the United States, it would require 15,000 square miles (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Square_mile) (40,000 square kilometers (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Square_kilometer)), which is a few thousand square miles larger than Maryland (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maryland), or 1.3 Belgiums (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belgium). This is less than 1/7th the area of corn (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corn) harvested in the United States in 2000
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algae_fuel
And finally, Bill Gates is investing $100 Million in Sapphire Energy:
San Diego-based Sapphire Energy said last year that it has successfully made its product, Green Crude, which yielded 91 octane gasoline from algae.
Its process can use algae to yield a range of fuels, including the chemical equivalents of gasoline, jet fuel, and diesel. It has a test facility in New Mexico.
The series B equity will help the company build out its operations with a target of producing 10,000 barrels per day of fuel from algae and help it operate at commercial scale within three to five years.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-11128_3-10043996-54.html
That's not ethanol. It's not biodesiel. It's gasoline that can go in your car right now.
I don't know if the profitability from this method still exists now that oil has lost $100 a barrel. But that is probably going to spike again, and the idea of a cheaper method being employed in America is tantalizing. It'd be like a heroin addict finding green shit to pump in their veins that's better smack and which they can't OD on. According to wiki, biogasoline is not a hydrocarbon but uses the same infrastructure that black shit in the ground does to turn it into gas (or biogas). It does not require arable land or freshwater to make, so it wouldn't put increased strain on food resources. Apparently, Sapphire energy is trying to team up with utility companies which use coal plants and use their CO2 for algae production.
Does anyone know of any detractions? I can't seem to find any. This just seems to good to be true.
From the industry lobby:
The world needs a radical new solution. Not fossil fuels. Not biodiesel. And not ethanol or any other crop- or sugar-based biofuels that have a direct impact on food prices, the destruction of cropland, fresh water reservoirs and the rainforest.
Picture a domestic economy built on completely renewable, carbon-neutral products produced directly from CO2 and sunlight, efficiently generating a new kind of crude oil from one of the world's oldest, most adaptable plants: algae.
Introducing Green Crude Production.
Products and processes in this category:
http://www.greencrudeproduction.com/img/bullet.gifare made directly from CO2 using photosynthesis
http://www.greencrudeproduction.com/img/bullet.gifdo not result in biodiesel or ethanol
http://www.greencrudeproduction.com/img/bullet.gifenhance, replace petroleum-based products
http://www.greencrudeproduction.com/img/bullet.gifare ASTM compliant
http://www.greencrudeproduction.com/img/bullet.gifdo not require food crops or agricultural land
http://www.greencrudeproduction.com/img/bullet.gifare carbon neutral and renewable
http://www.greencrudeproduction.com/img/bullet.gifsupport domestic energy independence
And, to make the market really work, the process must be economically scalable and conform to the existing petroleum infrastructure, from refinement through distribution and the retail supply chain.
http://www.greencrudeproduction.com/solution.html
Algae fuel, also called algal fuel, oilgae, algaeoleum or third generation biofuel, is a biofuel (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biofuel) from algae (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algae). Compared with second generation biofuels, algae are high-yield high-cost (30 times more energy per acre than terrestrial crops) feedstocks (http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/feedstock) to produce biofuels. Since the whole organism uses sunlight to produce lipids, or oil, algae can produce more oil in an area the size of a two-car garage than an entire football field of soybeans (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soybean).
The United States Department of Energy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Department_of_Energy) estimates that if algae fuel replaced all the petroleum fuel in the United States, it would require 15,000 square miles (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Square_mile) (40,000 square kilometers (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Square_kilometer)), which is a few thousand square miles larger than Maryland (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maryland), or 1.3 Belgiums (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belgium). This is less than 1/7th the area of corn (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corn) harvested in the United States in 2000
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algae_fuel
And finally, Bill Gates is investing $100 Million in Sapphire Energy:
San Diego-based Sapphire Energy said last year that it has successfully made its product, Green Crude, which yielded 91 octane gasoline from algae.
Its process can use algae to yield a range of fuels, including the chemical equivalents of gasoline, jet fuel, and diesel. It has a test facility in New Mexico.
The series B equity will help the company build out its operations with a target of producing 10,000 barrels per day of fuel from algae and help it operate at commercial scale within three to five years.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-11128_3-10043996-54.html
That's not ethanol. It's not biodesiel. It's gasoline that can go in your car right now.
I don't know if the profitability from this method still exists now that oil has lost $100 a barrel. But that is probably going to spike again, and the idea of a cheaper method being employed in America is tantalizing. It'd be like a heroin addict finding green shit to pump in their veins that's better smack and which they can't OD on. According to wiki, biogasoline is not a hydrocarbon but uses the same infrastructure that black shit in the ground does to turn it into gas (or biogas). It does not require arable land or freshwater to make, so it wouldn't put increased strain on food resources. Apparently, Sapphire energy is trying to team up with utility companies which use coal plants and use their CO2 for algae production.
Does anyone know of any detractions? I can't seem to find any. This just seems to good to be true.