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could algae biofuels be the solution to america's oil woes? Jan 22, 2009
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Here's what Girlawhirl finds pretty interesting: all that oil that's under the surface of planet earth started out millions of years ago as algae. Like the way coal changes into diamonds, over time, as the earth's crust shifted above it, it became compressed and hidden in pockets below layers of earth or water above it. But as we know, there's only a finite amount of oil stashed underground, so scientists have now turned to its original source – algae – as a possible alternative source of oil… Algae are among the fastest growing plants in the universe, and they are 50-percent oil. The race is on to find ways to create a bio diesel from oil and there are already some major developments. At last year's Sundance Festival, one company showed off an algae-powered Mercedes – intriguing because some other biofuels have trouble in cold weather conditions.
Since algae reproduces super fast, it really is possible to “grow” enough to create a viable alternative to fossil fuels. And, while some producers are tweaking how they grow their own algae, others are capitalizing on the fact that as plants, they need CO2 to grow, locating algae farms near plants that release CO2 and devising a mechanism for capturing the CO2 and delivering it to the algae – thus preventing that carbon from entering the atmosphere. Others are defying the very need for photosynthesis, keeping their algae in the dark and force-feeding them sugar to keep them growing.
And while Girlawhirl won't be able to drive up to her local service station and fill up with algae bio fuel for a few years, it might be in production soon. A plant in Texas is already producing about 100,000 gallons of algae oil per acre a year, which is so much more than the 50 gallons per acre that soybeans can produce and the 30 gallons per acre of fuel that corn produces.
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