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'First economical process' for making biodiesel fuel from algae
- ams6110 18y agoPotentially very good news -- algae is not a food crop nor does it complete for acreage otherwise available for growing food. Also they seem to have figured out how to run a continuous rather than a batch-oriented production process, which should scale better.
- nebula 18y agoWell, it's potentially a very dangerous thing for our ecosystem, given that our oceans are already in deep trouble: http://www.ted.com/talks/sylvia_earle_s_ted_prize_wish_to_protect_our_oceans.html http://www.ted.com/talks/sylvia_earle_s_ted_prize_wish_to_pr...
- joe_the_user 18y agoI couldn't read the video but I am pretty sure that most biodiesel algae processes are and will remain based on algae farmed on land in shallow pools rather than some kind of system for straining the ocean.
- jerf 18y agoYes. To the best of my knowledge, the first paragraph is typical journalism cluelessness. Nobody is talking about harvesting algae, there's no way that would be feasible. Don't know whether to blame the journalist for editorializing on the availability of algae or if (s)he was misled by a source.
- physcab 18y agoI thought the limiting problem with this type of technology was that the type of algae needed was very expensive to obtain. I'm no bio-nut though.
- baguasquirrel 18y agoThis ought not be a problem. It's an up-front cost. The algae reproduces on its own after you seed it in your grow ponds, yes? The whole concept is centered around harvesting the said algae after that.
- joe_the_user 18y agoYes, initial cost of algae could not be a problem since it reproduces itself. But how effectively it reproduces itself over time is problem I've read about - the algae that's good for biodiesel tends to be out-competed by general-purpose algae that blows in over time. I am not sure how the "breakthrough" in this article relates to this problem.