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- thechinaski, on 08/21/2008, -1/+38better than corn
- Berkana, on 08/21/2008, -0/+21The sooner this gets into mass production, the sooner middle eastern oil becomes irrelevant.
- WordsnCollision, on 08/21/2008, -0/+21Kelp - the other green fuel.
- thethinktank, on 08/21/2008, -1/+17"capable of producing millions of gallons of biodiesel derived from algae within 3 years"
Was really hoping for "billions" with a "b", but this is still great news. Hopefully a few more algae biofuel producers will ante up and we'll see a number in billions within three years. (i like valcent and their vertigro technology: http://www.valcent.net/s/Home.asp) Its a start, and that is awesome news.
Now let's just hope we see adjacent commitments by Detroit and Washington to increase the number of flex fuel cars on the road... - inactive, on 08/21/2008, -0/+10carbon neutral...here is a great article on it..
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/jul/31/ ... - inactive, on 08/21/2008, -2/+11It's gonna take that long to get the batch going.
- inactive, on 08/21/2008, -0/+7Admittedly, I haven't been following the development of Algae based fuel. So that being said, could somebody fill me in on what are the emissions like? Also, have they examined the environmental impact of using this as an energy source?
- GregFD3S, on 08/21/2008, -0/+7Another good example of how Silicon Valley will save the planet.
- inactive, on 08/21/2008, -0/+7Get you laid by three midgets this Friday.
- inactive, on 08/21/2008, -2/+8Site is slow:
Solazyme Hopes to Mass-Produce Algae Biodiesel in Three Years
Written by Ariel Schwartz
Published on August 20th, 2008
I’ve often thought that algae could be one of the keys to our energy future, and now I’m more convinced than ever. In a conference call earlier today, Solazyme CEO Jonathan Wolfson said that his company is capable of producing millions of gallons of biodiesel derived from algae within 3 years.
Solazyme is the first company to produce algae diesel that meets US standards, but until today their production timeline was unknown.
“The technology is moving a lot quicker than some people would expect,” Wolfson said.
Most companies working with algal fuel grow algae in open ponds, harvest the plant, and squeeze the oil out, but Solazyme takes a different approach. The company grows algae in the dark in large tanks by feeding it with pizza. The algae then eat the biomass and turn it into natural oils.
According to Wolfson, the logic behind his huge boner is that it works with the existing biofuel infrastructure. “We produce oils on the fuel side that can go straight into the refining structure,” he said.
With so many fuel technologies having excruciatingly long timelines, it’s encouraging to see a company working on the fast track. - BossKey, on 08/21/2008, -0/+6If you don't know anyone who drives a diesel vehicle, that means you don't buy any consumer products that come in a box, and you don't live in a city or school district with mass transportation.
You could almost say that anything on the road that isn't a passenger car/truck/motorcycle is a diesel vehicle. - PhillipJFry, on 08/21/2008, -0/+6Two points:
Anything that is grown to produce fuel is carbon neutral, at least in basic terms
How much fresh water does this stuff need? I've heard that it requires more water than bio diesel produced. I think water is the prohibitive factor - bloodguard, on 08/21/2008, -0/+6I've been driving a VW Jetta Turbo Diesel since '03. 280K miles and it still gets ~50MPG running dino diesel. It gets about 45 running biodiesel but I'll pay a premium and take the mileage hit if I can run domestically produced go juice instead of imported. Better still would be a nice diesel hybrid.
- malex, on 08/21/2008, -0/+6The projects I've seen are closed systems that recycle the water, so hopefully Solazyme has something similar.
- rizzo2008, on 08/21/2008, -0/+5Interestingly you can make gasoline from algae oil as well.
http://www.diversified-energy.com/index.cfm?s_webA ...
http://www.sapphireenergy.com/ - crunchyeyeball, on 08/21/2008, -0/+5Here in the UK, diesel cars began outselling gasoline quite some time ago due to the improved fuel economy (fuel in the UK is even more expensive than the US).
In all honesty, at the moment I don't think I know anyone who doesn't drive a diesel. Modern diesels (especially BMW and Volkwagon) give incredible fuel economy with oustanding performance.
Personally, I drive a Mitsubishi Colt DI-D which gets 59 miles to the gallon (diesel, of course). - VitriolAndAngst, on 08/21/2008, -0/+5There could be an environmental benefit, if roving "algae processors" were built to move on the ocean. Then they could be transported to the "dead zones." Were algae is already overproducing.
- inactive, on 08/21/2008, -0/+5they can make high octane gasoline from it...
- oveedrx, on 08/21/2008, -0/+4No , I was sitting .. I did not need to stop
- EricAnderton, on 08/21/2008, -0/+4Needing more biofuel producers is the best part. Hear me out.
That whole "keeping our had-earned dollars at home" thing, well, this is it! We can bolster the economy through the widespread *distribution* of energy production. Every state in the USA will have a few of these farms before too long.
My guess is: this will generate a lot of new jobs in the long run. Also, there's going to be a race for the best feedstock for this stuff too - beyond, that competition should drive up creativity along the lines of converting "waste" into usable algae food. - NuclearIsShit, on 08/21/2008, -1/+5What about the Volkswagen Golf TDI, or the Getta TDI? Ever seen one of those? Also don't forget the smart cars, all long haul trucks, trains, boats, buses, and construction equipment. Hey don't forget you can get most full size trucks with diesel engines.
- Pissoff, on 08/21/2008, -0/+4I'm probably missing something, but I don't know anyone that drives a diesel vehicle.
Can otr trucks use it? - inactive, on 08/21/2008, -1/+5Even if this doesn't get into mass production right away, just letting the oil speculators think that it's going well will drive down the price of oil in the short term. What can't algae do?
- ChayD, on 08/21/2008, -0/+4I think the OP missed out the /s at the end.
- P1nkF70yd, on 08/21/2008, -0/+4The bio-diesel can be refined in much the same way as crude oil, allowing for the production of fuel quality diesel and gasoline, as well as crude starting materials for plastics and other petrochemicals.
- P1nkF70yd, on 08/21/2008, -0/+4The article posted above mentioned it used non-potable water, maybe this technique could also be used to clean waste water?
- shredswithpiks, on 08/21/2008, -0/+4You're saying algae biofuel is impractical because we can gear up the factories to quickly.... ???
- icurnvs, on 08/21/2008, -2/+6Digg is on a roll! So far, Digg has cured cancer, Alzheimer's, diabetes, HIV/AIDS, and now it adds another "revolutionary" renewable energy development to the list.
- rizzo2008, on 08/21/2008, -0/+3It doesn't necessarily need any freshwater. Algae in theory can use salt water or even waste water which could yield clean fresh water as a byproduct as well. It needs no arable farmland and uses CO2 and sunlight so it seems like a great idea to me.
- BradMajors, on 08/22/2008, -0/+3It produces the same pollutants, such as NOx, as gasoline, but worrying about smog and other forms of car pollution is out of fashion. It can still be called a "green" fuel. The current fad is all about CO2, and while Solazyme will not be carbon neutral it is in theory it seems possible to set up a closed loop which would be carbon neutral.
- Rikkochet, on 08/21/2008, -0/+3Um, don't mean to be a nay sayer, but there's no corn involved anywhere except my lower intestines.
- thethinktank, on 08/22/2008, -0/+3You've got your political parties switched too. See: Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison and Governor Rick Perry are the two toughest opponents of biofuels. Hutchison has filed legislation in the US Senate to tear down the ethanol mandate, and Rick Perry requested (but was denied on Aug 8th) that Texas be partially exempt from the mandate. And what inspired them?
Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison:
"In 2006, Hutchison received more campaign contributions from large oil and gas corporations than any other member of Congress." (wikipedia)
Governor Rick Perry:
"An East Texas poultry producer gave $100,000 to a group chaired by Gov. Rick Perry six days after a meeting that prompted the governor to request a waiver of federal ethanol mandates that the industry says are driving up feed costs, according to newspaper reports." (associated press)
So you're wrong, its the REPUBLICANS who are against this technology and it is the REPUBLICANS that are bought and paid for by big farm and big oil.
(I do, however, have to salute Senator Chuck Grassley, he's one of the most ardent supporters of ethanol and is also a republican) - cannonball, on 08/22/2008, -0/+3"feeding it with pizza"
"logic behind his huge boner"
i see what you did there... - ElTomacco, on 08/22/2008, -0/+2Great, so pretty soon I'll be handing over my hard earned money to Big Algae. I hate them so much!
- Victorface, on 08/22/2008, -0/+2Maybe the poster ran out of letters. You have a character limit in the title.
- JAWS, on 08/22/2008, -0/+2I think it was Pop. sci. I read that quoted Toyota as working on a diesel hybrid for their european model Prius for 2011. It was likely to get in the 100-150 mpg range. With biodiesel that's a killer win!
- publiclurker, on 08/22/2008, -0/+2Better than that, I've seen a test where they passed the output gases from a coal plant through the water the algae loved the extra CO2.
- inactive, on 08/22/2008, -0/+2EXACTLY! Took the words out of my mouth. Dead zones are overrun with algae. We could be getting something out of it, and cleaning up the water in the process. Win-win.
- ChayD, on 08/21/2008, -0/+2What about Shell's Diesel powered race car?
- ElTomacco, on 08/22/2008, -0/+2Imperial or US gallon? If imperial then thats 49 MPG US (I think thats right.) Still better than any car running on gasoline.
- Victorface, on 08/22/2008, -0/+2It's actually Audi's diesel powered race car, the R10. Oh, and if you go to Europe, there are tons of diesel passenger cars. Nobody buys them in the United States, so no automaker sells them.
- NoCt1, on 08/21/2008, -0/+2True said. I started tracking info down on the company already. Looks like potential but right now Solar is still where its at.
Back to the diesel, Go Algae! - vaccumpony, on 08/21/2008, -0/+2It's not that a bio-fuel factory takes three years to get up and running, it's that this FIRST incarnation of their technology will take three years to begin producing a signifigant amount of commercial level fuel.
- spunkmyer, on 08/21/2008, -0/+2Let me be the first to welcome our new Algae overlords ... oh wait, it's not big oil developing this ..
This is great new. I'll be the first in line to fill up my VW TDI diesel when this goes on sale. - pyry, on 08/21/2008, -1/+3So, people make occasional mistakes in language usage. I'm over it. Has anyone else gotten over it yet?
- NoCt1, on 08/21/2008, -0/+2Jetta*
- shredswithpiks, on 08/21/2008, -0/+2Every car with computer controlled ignition and timing is potentially a flex fuel vehicle. I daily drive a WRX (not advertised as a flex fuel vehicle) and there are people over at http://www.osecuroms.org/ who have used open source software to run E85.
Additionally, the company I work for has used custom tuning to switch all our diesel vehicles to bio. - inactive, on 08/22/2008, -0/+2lies!
- inactive, on 08/22/2008, -0/+2Not much better to hand it over to De Beers:
http://www.autobloggreen.com/2007/04/11/biodiesel- ... - thethinktank, on 08/22/2008, -0/+2at least that money won't go to OPEC...
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