The race is on to find a way to mass produce affordable fuel from pond algae. Sound strange? Here’s the scoop:
Factors such as fluctuating oil prices and the hopes of easing climate change have caused the hunt for creative knew energy sources.
The icky pond scum known as algae grows remarkably fast and is full of fat; for these reasons scientists have cause to believe that it has a huge potential as a renewable energy source. The objective will be to find a COST-EFFECTIVE way to convert the lipids found in algae ponds into fuel. Then the fuel may be pumped into cars, trucks and jets. Pretty cool!
Algae is remarkable for its ability to quickly devour carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas caused by the burning of fossil-fuels. Also it grows in places that are not used for growing food crops, for example, dirty pools and waste water.
Taking Action
Last summer ExxonMobil declared that it would invest 600 million dollars into algae research, in a partnership with a California biotechnology company. A chemical engineer named George Philippidis, director of applied research at Florida International University in Miami said:
“I think it’s very realistic. I don’t think it’s going to take 20 years. It’s going to take a few years…we could hook up to the exhaust of polluting industries…we could capture it and feed it to algae and prevent that CO2 from contributing to further climate change.”
Sapphire Energy, a smart California company, fueled a cross-country road trip with, get this, algae-tinged gasoline. So while still in its formative stages, we at least know that the idea will work. Sapphire Energy’s cross country journey was meant to raise awareness, and it prompted the headline, “Coast to Coast on Slime.” A different California company is looking for a way to fatten fish on algae and then process the fish for oil. Poor fish, lucky Earth.
The Hurdle
Of course the process of converting algae into usable fuel will not be simple. There is a small stumbling-block which is not unique, and that would be the $$$ factor. Although the stuff grows incredibly fast, currently it costs $100 to make a gallon of algae fuel. This is by no means a savings.
Roy Swiger, a molecular geneticist and director of the Florida division of the non-profit Midwest Research Institute said,
“It would not make sense to spend five dollars of electricity to run a centrifuge to dry out algae, that in turn would only produce one dollar of fuel.”
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