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- hisurfer, on 12/13/2007, -1/+26Sounds like a great idea. However, Kona is NOT a remote Hawaiian island. Kona is a city on the island of Hawaii, in the state of Hawaii
- lizajane999, on 12/13/2007, -0/+18"The remote Hawaiian island of Kona" Kona is not an island, and its not at all remote, it is a region of the largest of all the Hawaiian Islands, the "Big Island" of Hawaii and home to about 50,000 people. If this writer can't even get facts straight about that, what are we supposed to think about the accuracy of the rest of this article?
- Bukowsky, on 12/13/2007, -1/+18It's nice to see a BIG OIL company actually doing something positive for the environment...
Not that Algae Biodiesel is going to save the world or anything.... but it's a step away from the foreign oil dependency that we currently rely on... - Winoria, on 12/13/2007, -0/+13If it's true, way to go Shell! I've seen several articles on algae biodiesel and I think it's exciting.
- lerker, on 12/13/2007, -0/+12... to be reabsorbed by the continuing oil production process. The point is that the process stops releasing "new" CO2 into the atmosphere.
- jchong, on 12/13/2007, -2/+10Um...Yeah Kona isn't a Hawaiian island.
- thespudmall, on 12/13/2007, -0/+6Could we use the algae blooms that occur (and suck massive amounts of CO2 from the atmosphere) from dumping iron solution into certain nutrient rich parts of the ocean to make Biodiesel?
Not only would it be an alternative fuel but it would remove a large amount of CO2 during production. - ours, on 12/13/2007, -1/+7Any step away from dependency on the Saudi regime is a good step.
- inactive, on 12/13/2007, -0/+5Shell is doing allot more then this. They are working on oil shale as well. And looking forward to hydrogen.
But how will this effect Hawai'i delicate environment? - sockpuppets, on 12/13/2007, -2/+5It's either a public relations stunt or they're just kicking the tires on alternative fuel studies. BP was first to pretend they're green and compassionate, when in reality less than 1% of their revenue went toward "environmentally conscious projects."
Oil is evil- if good comes out of it that's unintentional on their part. - inactive, on 12/13/2007, -1/+4Yeah, hows that hisurfer? Freakin Haole.
- groo68, on 12/13/2007, -1/+4less than 1% of severel billion is a lot. not that i know if they were lying or not.
- inactive, on 12/13/2007, -0/+3Aloha Diggers!
- Schneckehaus, on 12/13/2007, -0/+2Burning crops and deforestation to make for biodiesel croplands is as bad as using petroleum. Algae doesnt do taht though, it is much much cleaner than other biofuels. (in response to both of you)
- Schneckehaus, on 12/13/2007, -0/+2Algae is one of the most realistic biofuel choices, this is a good move. It's probably the only sustainable and enviro-friendly forms of biofuel manufacture.
- lukeev, on 12/13/2007, -0/+2Dammit! Digg wouldn't let me edit my comment properly - apologies for the repetitions (i.e. the word "issue"). Please mentally replace with other synonyms such as "problem", "barrier", "obstacle" etc!
- Y0tsuya, on 12/13/2007, -2/+4But burning the biodiesel puts it right back into the air...
- merwin, on 12/13/2007, -0/+2How is it as bad as fossil fuels?
- shapattack, on 12/13/2007, -0/+2Thanks for identifying that mistake I made in the story, folks. I corrected it and made note of the correction in the story. I hate to make a mistake, of course, but it's great to know this legion of fact-checkers will identify any that I do make...
- lukeev, on 12/13/2007, -0/+2Oil cannot be evil, because it is a thing. Yes it is an unsustainable and damaging resource, but all of humankind has used it thus far, yourself included, to do marvelous things. To power entire economies, technologies, infrastructures. The switch will be slow and difficult but Big Oil is starting to crack and some beginning to listen and think longer term. Lobbying groups and subsidies are a big issue. We need political will which is gradually gaining momentum on this issue. Big players are now involved on both sides, like the farming lobby (ethanol). Like top CIA officials speaking out about oil-influenced foreign policy which sparks enormous national defense and security headaches. Like scientists and environmental organizations. Like the automotive industry. Etc etc. We CAN break our oil dependency and we WILL. The only question is how long and at what cost to our environment.
- inactive, on 12/13/2007, -0/+2A large amount of land in North Kona is designated for ocean thermal energy conversion (not that we ever got anything from that) but if you want to learn more about the area go to http://www.nelha.org/ As long as they don't build on over a Hawaiian burial site, they should have no problem.
- hayden.evans, on 12/13/2007, -0/+1wow, this article starts with a mistake in the first sentence. that's some good journalism right there.
- Sinudeity, on 12/13/2007, -0/+1This is fantastic. Biofuels from landgrown crops has some negative aspects. Land usage etc. While the idea of moving renewable energy sources into the sea is fantastic. Like tide-based turbines for generating electricity. Cape Town could do with both concepts.
- QuantumBios, on 12/13/2007, -0/+1Can it be used as a fertilizer?
- drakethegreat, on 12/13/2007, -2/+3Sounds great except that biodiesel is debated as being as bad as fossil fuels so that isn't really a good thing to be putting on an island that is supposed to be attracting tourists for its natural beauty... and as mentioned Kona is a city on the non-rainy side of the big island.
- vwvan, on 12/13/2007, -1/+2This, tactically speaking, is an extremely significant development.
We need liquid fuels, and B100 biodiesel can run in unmodified diesel engines. It smells like French fries.
Although I am not a Republican, Mike Huckabee made a comment I really like.
“We could tell the oil-countries that we need their oil about as much as we need their sand.”
Algae consume CO2 when it grows, and thus reduces greenhouse gases.
In Arkansas, Algae blooms are ubiquitous and considered a nuisance. Ha! Take that Texas.
With careful engineering, large acreages of unusable land could be converted to algae production.
This could create a huge income for the state, besides addressing the oil problem effectively.
Algae are believed to be the original source of oil, thus it is only appropriate to return to it.
It is also good for food and plastics and can be raised in several varieties, each with their own unique assets.
One trick appears to be growing in closed, rather than open ponds, so that production can continue year round.
Plastic sheeting can accomplish this purpose, and can be easily recycled.
I have spent many years thinking about the energy problem, and I very much like algae as a solution, especially if it keeps the price of corn and chicken down.
It’s the original “biodegradeable”.
References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algaculture
http://www.oilgae.com/algae/algae.html
http://www.thedailygreen.com/environmental-news/la ... - Schneckehaus, on 12/13/2007, -0/+1Conveniently, high oil algaes flourish theb est in deserts.
There are tons of deserts in the south-western united states (nevada and new mexico and arizona and eastern california) - hisurfer, on 12/13/2007, -0/+1well its nice to see they corrected their mistake
- hisurfer, on 12/13/2007, -0/+1who the ***** are you? you don't need to be a haole to know that Kona isn't an island.
- carpeclunes, on 12/13/2007, -0/+1My thoughts exactly. I wouldn't call the Big Island remote, in any sense of the word.
- Darph, on 12/13/2007, -0/+1Kona isn't an island, and it already has a huge government sponsored natual power lab, even has an algae farm.
http://www.fodors.com/world/north%20america/usa/ha ... - ogore, on 12/13/2007, -1/+1It would create an imbalanced ecosystem and many species would die.
- ogore, on 12/13/2007, -1/+1Before buying biodiesel check the back ground of the company. I don't know about shell but many "green" companies selling palm oil for biodiesel cut down old growth forrest to make plantations. Just because it comes from something natural doesn't mean its good for the environment. Biodiesel is less efficient than normal petrol anyway. It will only be environmentally friendly if it is planted where nothing is growing already.
This algae could contaminate the environment and destroy habitat and food for native algae, fish etc. Depending if it's inland or using the sea that is. - thku4grace, on 04/19/2008, -0/+0What is really needed is to refocus on bio diesel derived from algae farms. No food vs energy dilemma. Unlike ethanol production, algae farms remove carbon dioxide from the air. Put that together with new laws curbing high sulfur diesel and a new diesel exhaust scrubbing technology called blue technology, that uses a urine-like substance and we're on our way to both a sustainable, renewal energy production and use model that also keeps our petrodollars out of the hands of foreign terrorists. What does it take to get it done? A persistent involved public pushing hard to see it through.
- cottonThePirat, on 12/13/2007, -0/+0This is far from a done deal. Here is a link to the local Hilo side paper discussing the issue. Plus Kona is where the big tourist dollars are on Big Island. People here protest a ferry service, they will protest this and anything else.
http://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/articles/2007/ ... - kidvitacus, on 12/13/2007, -5/+4I completely agree. But why not make it out of something that smells a little better than algae. I like what they did on Dirty Jobs and made it out of old mexican restaraunt grease. mmmmmmmmmmTACOS!
- mcalica, on 12/13/2007, -1/+0Hahaha! Where the hell is Kona the island? Kona is a town on the Island of Hawaii and I am actually very surprised that they are opening a plant there since that is one of the more populated areas on the island.
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