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Algae Startups Confront Promise of Miracle Fuel With Big Sum
popularmechanics.com — After years of hype as the mucky green grail of the oil crunch, algae is finally taking on its "impossible" hurdles to move from test tubes to barrels. With key players in this budding industry laying their bets on the winning biofuel formula, how long will it take before slime powers your life?
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- pentupentropy, on 05/29/2008, -3/+9Is this a good idea? Algae is pretty invasive
- Bhima, on 05/30/2008, -0/+3Yes it is a good idea.
- aussieNickuss, on 05/30/2008, -0/+3I would guess it would be grown and harvested in a very controlled environment.
- LucifersDad, on 05/30/2008, -1/+2Best places are deserts. So if anything goes wrong the algae would not get into the oceans or rivers.
Water pumped in by solar, wind power, tide or other alternatives. using desalination plants.
Solar power at day in the desert could provide light for night time, so the algae would get 24 hours of sun light, the same can be used for plants.
- LucifersDad, on 05/30/2008, -1/+2Best places are deserts. So if anything goes wrong the algae would not get into the oceans or rivers.
- TheZorch, on 05/30/2008, -0/+3The Japanese grow and harvest an edible form of algae that isn't poisonous. For those who don't know, algae is a form of plant life.
- ratexla, on 05/30/2008, -0/+2Just wanted to point out that non-poisonous species can also be invasive, if that's what you... didn't mean.
- snagra, on 05/30/2008, -0/+4As for algae being invasive, it has grown just about everywhere on the planet and will continue to do so, culturing algae will have no effect on this. Algae is one of the predominant and most influential organism in recycling Carbon Dioxide back into Oxygen. Also, algae is not a form of plant life, but rather all plant life on earth has evolved from green algae, green algae is the ancestor to all plant life. Engineering algae to create bioproducts, such as oil, is a great idea and although it is not completely feasible at the moment, it holds a lot of promise.
- badwithcomputer, on 05/29/2008, -0/+20for some reason that title was really hard to read
- thedzigner, on 05/30/2008, -0/+4lol - I'm glad you admitted that. For a split second I thought it was just me!
- RubineBoy, on 05/30/2008, -0/+2And now try to read it backwards.
- agentb111, on 05/29/2008, -0/+15I for one welcome our new autotrophic overlords.
- bixby1, on 05/29/2008, -0/+9algae is amazing. it reproduces so quickly. if somebody really does crack the code...
- sirmcdiznuts, on 05/30/2008, -1/+3It's a neat idea.
- sloworbit, on 05/30/2008, -0/+4If it's a realistic alternative to oil or not remains to be seen but at least it's a step in the right direction.
- DrCrankenstein, on 05/30/2008, -0/+5I'm imagining just having some little algae colony under my car and letting it grow and produce fuel. That will be excellent.
- alllo, on 05/30/2008, -0/+2me too :)
- Bhima, on 05/30/2008, -0/+1I think you would need more space to produce enough fuel for your car than just the underside of it. But you might be able to do it in your back yard.
- ig33k010011, on 05/30/2008, -0/+3i've been hearing a lot about algae lately...
- Jasper710, on 05/30/2008, -0/+3bring on the new gas!
- b8765g, on 05/30/2008, -1/+6Dugg for hot girl in the picture.
- dleesgeetar, on 05/30/2008, -0/+4dugg for talking about a hot girl in the picture
- consonance, on 05/30/2008, -0/+13"This is algae's second coming. The first attempt, run by the U.S. government in the wake of the last oil crisis, was killed in 1996 by the Clinton administration while oil hovered around $20 per barrel."
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAhahahahaha ha ha ha ha ah ah oh ah ohh ah ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh *cries* - DestroyFascism, on 05/30/2008, -0/+4Better than those idiots with puts on maze futures funding corn as a biofuel. At least with this you can fairly muchly stick it in the dessert and it will do the job nicely.
- Flashman, on 05/30/2008, -0/+1*maize
*desert
/was confused- docbob84, on 05/30/2008, -0/+0It's much more entertaining if you leave it the way he had it.
- DestroyFascism, on 05/30/2008, -0/+1Sorry, 16 hours of programming will leave you brain dead and suffering insomnia. (Coffee....ew)
- Flashman, on 05/30/2008, -0/+1*maize
- Contajeerus, on 05/30/2008, -1/+1Hot chicks go for the slime
- PopcornDave, on 05/30/2008, -0/+1Chicks dig jerks.
- baylat, on 05/30/2008, -0/+3I think this is better than biofuel. I know it is a good alternative source of fuel, but to me it's a ridiculous idea to use food for fuel consumption over human consumption.
- JointVenture, on 05/30/2008, -6/+1Oh STFU and go suck on the side of your Aquarium for a snack you moron.
- Triticum, on 05/30/2008, -0/+2Um...this IS biofuel.
- DeadPanDan, on 05/30/2008, -0/+1This is biofuel. 'BIO' as in, biological source. Fuel as in fuel.
- TheZorch, on 05/30/2008, -0/+3Algae are really amazing. Technically they are plants. Many species are poisonous but there are some that are edible and the Japanese grow and harvest such species for food. Algae grows so fast its the ultimate renewable resource.
- Haoie, on 05/30/2008, -0/+0That's true. Algae could become a valuable global food source.
Needs some decent recipes first though.- ratexla, on 05/30/2008, -0/+1I have seen recipes. :) Haven't tried any myself.
- mrsmegz, on 05/30/2008, -0/+2Algae is also a good food source for fleets of humans lost in the depths of space.
- snagra, on 05/30/2008, -1/+2Technically plants are algae, not the other way around. All plant life forms were evolutionarily derived from green algae.
- pakruse, on 05/30/2008, -1/+2Technically, only green algae is a member of the plant kingdom - red and brown algae are not.
(I don't actually remember the classification of non-green algae. Wikipedia doesn't tell me which kingdom red algae is in - something about a debate about whether to include it as plant, protist, or its own kingdom - and brown algae is listed in the kingdom Chromalveolata)
- Haoie, on 05/30/2008, -0/+0That's true. Algae could become a valuable global food source.
- mrsmegz, on 05/30/2008, -0/+2This sounds very interesting as to what they are doing, as well as promising, but one question that bugs me is what exactly we have to feed it. If we have to fertilize these ponds then wont we run into the same kind of runoff and nitrification problems of water sources we face w/ corn bio-fuels?
- snagra, on 05/30/2008, -0/+3Algae is autotrophic, so they will make their own energy by combining photons with inorganic material to produce byproducts and energy for itself, it will make much more sense to use algae than something like corn because of all the energy expended to get what we want from that corn.
- mrsmegz, on 05/30/2008, -0/+3Thanks botany class was a long time ago. Like I said this could be huge, but is definitely bad news for Willy.
http://www.biowillieusa.com/
- mrsmegz, on 05/30/2008, -0/+3Thanks botany class was a long time ago. Like I said this could be huge, but is definitely bad news for Willy.
- floorman56, on 05/30/2008, -1/+2but one question that bugs me is what exactly we have to feed it
Poop from humans and carbon from coal plants ...Yummm - DeadPanDan, on 05/31/2008, -0/+1Corn is a nasty plant in terms of fertilizer consumption. Algae can get by with very, very minimal amounts. It'll be grown in sealed transparent containers, continually recycling the water. Also it can live in brackish water, the water that we don't use because it's too salty, so it shouldn't stress the water supply. Good stuff.
It'll stand apart from the food supply, and it'll cause very little pollution.
- snagra, on 05/30/2008, -0/+3Algae is autotrophic, so they will make their own energy by combining photons with inorganic material to produce byproducts and energy for itself, it will make much more sense to use algae than something like corn because of all the energy expended to get what we want from that corn.
- TheNewsReel, on 05/30/2008, -2/+0Hemp's better!
- DeadPanDan, on 05/31/2008, -0/+1No, it's not. It's better than corn, but not better than algae.
- xexx, on 05/30/2008, -1/+2I can has fish tank powered home now?
- DeadPanDan, on 05/31/2008, -0/+1I don't think you'd want to power your home with diesel. The generator would be a little noisy.
Your truck on the other hand...
- DeadPanDan, on 05/31/2008, -0/+1I don't think you'd want to power your home with diesel. The generator would be a little noisy.
- DestroyFascism, on 05/30/2008, -0/+2You can get 0.4 liters of vegetable oil from 1 full 20 liter garbage bag. From what is left after removing the oil you can get a further 0.3 liters of Methanol. And if you turn it around with sewerage and farm waste you can get 0.4 cubic meters of Natural gas. The rest can be used as fertilizer.
Kind of reminds me of the citric acid cycle. - Triticum, on 05/30/2008, -0/+2Plus you can get these critters to produce pure hydrogen gas.
- anubis2night, on 05/30/2008, -2/+1Buried for the articles lack of any real research. If you've ben keeping an eye on this subject you'd find a lot of the companies are further ahead than this article let's on. Perhaps if people would research more and let that information guide their article they'd have a better read. Instead they have a topic and title for their stories and get just enough info to sell their point of view.
- DeadPanDan, on 05/31/2008, -0/+1Research what? Digg is a site that brings sites and issues to people's attention, not a library for deep research. Not everybody has been keeping a close eye on biofuels, or Darfur, or Linux, or food riots, or Russia, or---
- Parapadrifter, on 06/19/2008, -0/+1Algae is the way, no doubt, to our oil addiction. And don't let the internationally controlled media tell you different, they serve the kings of the world who are invested deeply into the oil business. But, we've found they way out of the pasture. The electric fence will only sting for a bit, but if we collectively rush the fense, our shepherds can't stop us. Considered me unfleeced.
Is it possible to convert dark energy? I've had the impression that the sun gets its rotation by a stellar dynamo powered by dark energy. If it can be done, magnetism is the key to this conversion. "maxforce engine" on youtube. - avize, on 07/27/2008, -0/+0This article is really beatiful but I am bored to read.
Please dont read them once a time.
http://www.onlineflashgames.org
http://www.bid-directory.net - ceviriburosu, on 10/29/2008, -0/+0Better than those idiots with puts on maze futures funding corn as a biofuel. At least with this you can fairly muchly stick it in the dessert and it will do the job nicely.
çeviri bürosu http://www.prestijceviri.com
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