Algae Jet Fuel: It's Green, It's Slimy, It's Renewable

There are a lot of renewable energy sources out there being talked about, but it seems to me that two are kind of buzzy among the ecogeeks that aren't talked about a whole lot elsewhere. One is geothermal, which we've talked about on HuffPost Green a bit lately.

The other is algae-based fuel. Talk about renewable!

Well, one company is pretty darn close to having a jet fuel based that comes from algae:

Solazyme announced today that it has produced the world's first algae-based jet fuel. The product passed all testing specifications for Aviation Turbine Fuel-- which means that the aviation kerosene has passed all the major hurdles to creating a jet fuel that is compatible with the current commercial and military infrastructure.

Tests that the jet fuel had to go through before meeting specifications include measurements for density, thermal oxidative stability, flashpoint, freezing point, and more.

Read the full story here

Related:

HuffPost Green Energy news page

Comments

[jacobomorales]

mark my words, the price of oil will drop dramatically when this product is proven and on the verge of taking root. the oil industry will take a loss for a few month, make sure these industries fail and then walah!!!the price of gasoline will shoot up because of a was in timbuktu....

If these emerging co's are not protected, big oil, and coal will kill them, with our tax dollars...!!!

[ImmanuelGoldstein]

I don't think Big Oil is losing any sleep over a technology that would be lucky to ever provide 2% of our liquid fuels consumption.

[ImmanuelGoldstein]

I'm gonna make this as simple as possible.

NO FORM of photosynthetic biofuels will make a signifigant dent in our need for , much less replace petroleum for any forseeable future.

NO FORM of photosynthetic biofuels can by definitition absorb more energy than the solar flux passing through the area it occupies and store more than it's conversion efficiency, which means even if you converted the ENTIRE GREAT LAKES to an algae pond it would not BEGIN to replace petroleum at present USA consumption levels.

ANYONE who claims otherwise should be expected to provide SPECIFIC ENERGY CALCULATIONS, not name calling ,not conspiracy theories, not rhetoric ,but REAL WORLD PHYSICS BASED MATH to prove otherwise which I assert cannot be done.

Any takers? Can anybody out there actually do junior high school algebra any more?
The energy problem can only be solved by reference to REAL WORLD PHYSICS not wishful thinking and most importantly not HOT AIR FROM HYPE.

So any of you green slime lovers up to the challenge? I for one am not holding my breath waiting, judging from the intelligence level of this discussion so far.

[KenGirard]

So, you are saying a reduction in the amount of oil we need to dig out of the ground wouldn't help in anyway?
Not to mention that if it works, it seems like something that every part of the world could do, so eventually we are talking reductions in world consumption of oil. I bet most third world countries could grow alge all year long with out any real effort.
And since the replacement is from a local source, that also means we would have to ship it far less distance, which would seem to save oil.
But you seem to think that a reduction in the amount of oil used in the world is pointless.

Physics + Accounting = Buisness
If it is not cheaper, we will not use it.

[ImmanuelGoldstein]

Sorry, no numbers. You loose. Next batter up.

[twgbonehead]

Well, personally, I find it rather hypocritical that you state those absolutes without providing a single number of your own to back it up, and insist that others do your homework for you.

But here goes:
US consumes 20.7Mbbl/day of oil: http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/ene_oil_con-energy-oil-consumption
1 bbl = 1.70 MWh of energy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barrel_of_oil_equivalent
That's 35.19 TWh/day of energy.
Insolation of horizontal plate in great lakes is > 3KWh/m*m/day (lowest in US, except Alaska)
http://rredc.nrel.gov/solar/old_data/nsrdb/redbook/atlas/

35.19 TWH/3KWH/m*m = 11730Mm*m = 4529 mi*mi
(Conversions suppled http://www.onlineconversion.comcom )
Efficiency of Photosynthesis: 6.6% http://www.upei.ca/~physics/p261/Content/Sources_Conversion/Photo-_synthesis/photo-_synthesis.htm

4529/.066 = 68,621 mi*mi Area needed for photosynthesis of 35.19 TWh/day

Area of Great Lakes: 95,000 mi*mi.

So, despite you picking an arbitrary location and size, low in insolation (the Sonoran Desert has twice the insolation, and an area of 120,000 mi*mi) you're still WRONG, buddy.

[Wilburrr]

.... takes less space, grows faster, and demands less energy than conventional crops AND I can make a bizzilion dollars on a lease back with my swimming pool!!

[ImmanuelGoldstein]

Not unless your swimming pool is the size of most city reserviors.

[sociocanuck]

I suspect this will somehow be blocked by the traditional jet fuel providers and/or corporate interests.

[ImmanuelGoldstein]

No, it'll be blocked by the basic laws of physics. Just like they blocked all the water cars perpetual motion machines.

[StephenJK]

Algae is also good for your health. DRINK UP!

[ImmanuelGoldstein]

Drink it? Great idea, many algae varieties (particularly the spirulinas) are rich in antioxidants.
Pour it in your Canyonero? Stupid idea.

[OldKnute]

And until our children know of these things, WE shall remain, SLAVES.

They say,,,, WE need solutions to CO2 emissions from Coal Burning Power Plants. You are looking at it.

Profitability and a CASH FLOW, that is presently going up in smoke. Wasted. Nature has been recycling CO2 since the beginning of LIFE on earth.

And still you do not see.

Oils from fat of Sheep and Goats that illuminated the Cave Dwellings of mankind, light for 100,000 Years.

And still you do not see.

Oils from Whales we nearly hunted to extinction, to light our world.

And still you do not see.

Candles made from Buffalo that lit the nighttime efforts of those who drafted the Constitution, Illuminating the Words set to parchment that founded a nation of HOPE and LIGHT to the world.

And still you do not see.




Children,

Gather some river mud and clear river water, place it in a large glass jar, place the filled jar in a south facing windowsill. With a straw, several times a day, blow into the jar bubbling the water within with your expelled breath, until the contents resembles this Photo. CO2.

Then strain the through a coffer filter, empty, spread the contents, and allow to dry on some waxed paper.

YOU have just made,,,, FISH FOOD,,,, from your breathe.

All the best

Knute Neo-LIB

PS Killthemessenger???

Why is it that you love DARKNESS so?

[twgbonehead]

KTM, interesting profile:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/users/profile/KillTheMessenger

You've been a member since April, and have posted nearly 6000 times.

You are all over every post involving algae, always negative.

I find that a bit funny. I don't find it humorous.

[KillTheMessenger]

I am also all over "free energy", the Easter Bunny, Santa-Clause, Little Jesus theology, the NRA, anti-gravity, SUVs, UFOs, people who don't understand the law of energy conservation, people who don't understand the laws of thermodynamics, idiots in general, idiots in government in special and the poor education Americans are giving their children which leads to having so many idiots in the first place.

Your move.

:-)

[worldsforgottenboy]

KTM,

Keep up the good work. I work as an engineer for an MBA-ravaged high tech company, so I understand where you are coming from.

Its OK to be outnumbered, as long as you have the numbers on your side.

[twgbonehead]

And how is algae related to the Easter Bunny? All the Algae I've known have been law-abiding little creatures, obeying not only the laws of thermodynamics and energy conservation, but every other law of science and nature. Your arguments consistently take the point of view; "There are so many other scams out there that algae must be one too".

In fact the area of useful algae engineering has been making great strides; both in creating types of algae that make useful stuff (like lignin-free cellulose, sugars, and oils), combining useful properties of different strains (allowing phototropic strains to produce substances previously only achievable by heterotrophic strains etc).

In addition, great advances have been made in creating inexpensive, sealed growing environments. It's not fair to say the cost of concrete (or of racks of plastic tubes) will make algae permanently expensive when as we speak, researchers are developing shallow trench/greenhouse-plastic-tube arrays that can provide near-ideal growing conditions for as little as 15 cents/square-foot (at current retail pricing), with very low installation and maintenance costs.

If you think that all algae is just hype, perhaps you should stop getting your information from tabloid sources and dig into what's really going on out there. Sure, there are hucksters around looking to make a quick buck off of idiot investors, but show me a field where that's NOT the case.

[CrzyRussell]

If they can make a fuel that can be used in existing airplanes and vehicles kudos to them. Think of the carbon and money that will be saved if we can avoid needlessly replacing vehicle and airplanes before their useful life is finished.

[EinChicago]

I think Sapphire's looks a little more promising.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/jul/31/biofuels.travelandtransport?gusrc=rss&feed=uknews


Bottom line is solar and wind are nice supplements for household and industrial use, but any feasible solution for transportation has to use the existing infrastructure. It's simply too big a hurdle to overcome to expect 50 years worth of cars currently on the road to all be replaced overnight.

[KillTheMessenger]

"...but any feasible solution for transportation has to use the existing infrastructure."

Really? Is that why they are building trains running 300mph all over the world except in the US?

"It's simply too big a hurdle to overcome to expect 50 years worth of cars currently on the road to all be replaced overnight."

It's not overnight. You had 30 years of time since Carter told you about the problem. And the price for oil is rising continuously since 2002. If you bought a car in the last five years that does not get at least 30mpg, the best one can say about you is that you are a sucker with regard to transportation.

[CrzyRussell]

Sucker? A lot of people need those vehicles that you don't approve of.

[StephenJK]

By this time next year the big three automakers and big oil will be pooping their bald pants because they got body-slammed so hard by ultra-capacitor technology and the electric vehicle. Very close to a car that does 80mph, 250 mile range and charges in 5 minutes. And, yes, there will be conversion kits for ICE to UC powered EV's. Put that in your pipe and smoke it. Oh, and btw, it is an AMERICAN who is developing the UC technology. The same guy behind super capacity hard drives.

[jacobomorales]

every bit helps, and diesel can be used easier than any other fuel. If we can get all trucks and planes and earth movers to use this fuel, it will be a huge accomplishment....

[worldsforgottenboy]

These Solazyme guys are using algae that eats sugar and generates oil, which is different from trying to grow algae in ponds using sunlight as the main energy source.

All types of algae can be used to produce oil by existing gas-to-liquids technology, which can run on any biomass which can be treated to generate carbon monoxide and hydrogen. For instance, anything which generates methane as it rots, can work as a feedstock for this process.

What most algae researchers are trying to do is different, they are trying to grow algae with high oil content and then extract the oil directly from the algae. This approach avoids the costly gas-to-liquids processing, but introduces a host of other problems which are still being worked out.

[KillTheMessenger]

"These Solazyme guys are using algae that eats sugar and generates oil, which is different from trying to grow algae in ponds using sunlight as the main energy source."

Cool, why not use a low efficiency organism if we can use high efficiency chemical reactors?

It all makes perfect sense now. In bizarro world!

:-)

[mouselion]

Your logic is -- petrochemical technology works and biochemical does not. You ignore that the petrochemical industry has over sixty years and billions of dollars of research and development while biochemical has very little. It is making great strides and yet it is still in its infancy. Give it some breathing room -- give it a chance. We need to make innovative strides with alternative energy, not just let certain political operatives pay lipservice to it while supporting more of the same.

[twgbonehead]

KTM, what "High-efficiency chamical reactors" are you talking about? Where are they located, and what's their annual output?

[worldsforgottenboy]

KTM,

I hope you are not assuming that I approve of this solar-sugar-algae approach. Any sugar based biomass approach will have high costs and low yields (on a per-area basis), and this looks like a particularly inefficient one.

I was just trying to inform our audience a little bit about algae technology, which I personally believe has great potential but has suffered from overemphasis on direct oil extraction. Growing oil-rich algae seems to be highly problematic based on past experience, so I think the less ambitious approach of combining oil-poor algae & GTL is more feasible.

[ImmanuelGoldstein]

So in other words we spend a bunch of petroleum in our petroleum based agricultural system to grow sugar then feed it to the algae in order to distill it to make more hydrocarbon fuels.

Excuse me , but isn't this an even more convoluted replication of the debacle over food based ethanol?

[jacobomorales]

way to go, let's get it into mass production and include truck and auto diesel....way to go guys!!!!and dolls!!!!!!!

[KillTheMessenger]

See... that is exactly what I mean... you read something like this and you think that any of this will make it into your tank tomorrow. And the sad truth is... it won't. And if you actually took the time to research the background of this article, you would even find out why it won't.

[KillTheMessenger]

It's green, it's slimy and it's futile. That's probably the best thing one can say so far about research into algae as energy sources.

[jacobomorales]

are you the public voice for the oil institute?

[KillTheMessenger]

No. Just for people like me (aka physicists and engineers) who are actually concerning themselves with knowing the pesky details about things like energy conservation laws and photosynthetic efficiency of biological organisms, which, truth to be told is good enough... if your goal is survival, but really sucks if your goal is generating solar energy.

Don't get me wrong. I like green juice. And I believe that some future version of genetically modified super-algae with a photosynthetic mechanism developed/optimized by humans rather than by evolution will get the job done. What I don't really believe is that the stuff one can fish out of the next pond is up to the task. And that has been shown over and over and over again by any number of well meaning researchers who have tried and failed. You can find the details about these failures in papers all over the web.

That, of course, does not mean they shouldn't try. What they definitely should not do, neither the companies involved in this enterprise or the media, is to claim success or anything close to it. Because that would be rather misleading.

[NL207]

He's just observing that this technology is still not economically viable. I happen to disgree with KTM about whether it can be made economical with some advances. I don't think that is proven or disproven yet, but the fact remains that with today's oil prices and current state of algae farming technology, this is not presently a commercialy viable solution.

[EinChicago]

I'm beginning to suspect teh same thing. He constantly pumps up oil pricesand trolls for big oil. My suspsicion is KTM is getting paid by the word from certain big oil companies.

[IzzyCA]

Dude, you are just no fun at all...

[KillTheMessenger]

That's because you don't know me. The people who do say I am funny.

:-)