Algae Fuel For Air Force Jets Just Months Away: Pentagon

Treehugger:

Claims by insiders that the air force could get itself very close to a zero carbon footprint within a decade seemed somewhat optimistic, to say the least. But the Defense Department is reporting that its development of algae-based fuels is well ahead of schedule. In fact, it is claimed that it could be cost competitive with fossil fuels within months.

Read the whole story: Treehugger

Comments

[kedikat]

10:26 AM on 02/18/2010

Energy self sufficiency would win a few wars, by being able to walk away from them.
Control of energy regions and the energy transport routes are a big reason for military expenditures. And anger from those who live in the regions.

Renewable energy and efficient recycling can lessen the need for such a far reaching military.

Ride a bike, save a bomb.

[BannedNBoston]

11:11 AM on 02/17/2010

We are much better off cutting the military budget and using the algae here for diesel cars and trains.

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=5564

II. More than 1000 US Bases and/or Military Installations



The main sources of information on these military installations (e.g. C. Johnson, the NATO Watch Committee, the International Network for the Abolition of Foreign Military Bases) reveal that the US operates and/or controls between 700 and 800 military bases Worldwide.



In this regard, Hugh d’Andrade and Bob Wing's 2002 Map 1 entitled "U.S. Military Troops and Bases around the World, The Cost of 'Permanent War'", confirms the presence of US military personnel in 156 countries.

The US Military has bases in 63 countries. Brand new military bases have been built since September 11, 2001 in seven countries.

In total, there are 255,065 US military personnel deployed Worldwide.

[BannedNBoston]

11:04 AM on 02/17/2010

Algae needs sunlight.
Only so much algae can be grown for the air force.
The Iraq and Afghanistan wars are biggest uses of petroleum.
on the planet. The CARGO jet supply routes are causing asthma.
Where ever they fly these supply routes people get sick.

http://www.costofwar.com/

[lostpl8]

03:02 AM on 02/17/2010

After following the links it got better. This process is said that it can be transported anywhere. One of them said the major spur was the high cost of shipping fuel in afganistan. It was reported that they could in theory build ponds and refine the fuel at the bases themselfs. But they also said the air force is looking at a 50/50 split between petrolum and algae mix.

I saw something about this years ago, about using algae to scrub CO2 from coal plants. But then again Oil is just algae and other photoplankton from another epoch.

[jsarets]

03:53 AM on 02/17/2010

Yup. Algae plus a little heat and pressure equals oil. We can replicate this process on the scale of hours instead of millennia by using what is essentially a pressure cooker.

[Clever Screen Name]

12:39 AM on 02/17/2010

Algae fuel, huh? Does anyone else have the impulse to just ASSUME, like me, that there is some huge, unintended biological catastrophe just waiting in the wings behind this technology? Just cause, you know, we're human, and we never seem to get anything right?

[urchinsadrift]

10:05 PM on 02/16/2010

A lot of algae could be grown using every town's sewage treatment plant. Each municipality could become an oil producer - MOPEC?

[jsarets]

11:16 PM on 02/16/2010

Yes, and the best part about that approach is that the algae and sewage can be filtered out of the waste water together and processed into liquid hydrocarbons simultaneously via hydrous pyrolysis.

[urchinsadrift]

10:03 PM on 02/16/2010

It would seem this would hold great promise for our farmers and ranchers. Most already have ponds and manure pits. They also have diesel powered equipment. So, if they can grow their fuel from their waste products, they would be much more self sufficient. Their production costs would be far lower, so perhaps farming could actually produce a decent standard of living. I hope it will work on a small scale without too much govt interference.

[snakecharmer1340]

09:50 PM on 02/16/2010

An energy independent military. They've been working on it for a while. Imagine if Saudi Arabia and Venezuela cut us off.

[jsarets]

09:45 PM on 02/16/2010

Fuel is a low-value commodity (by mass). The biorefinery industry would develop a lot quicker by focusing on producing higher-value materials (plastic and cellulosic) from virgin biomass and producing fuel from reclaimed waste materials.

In this way, we get at least two uses out of the biomass we produce and introduce the refined biomass into the economy as higher-value products that yield a higher return on investment in cultivation and refinery infrastructure.

Additionally, in this way we can reduce the proportion of our biomass cultivation that must be optimized for lipids rather than cellulose, which is far easier to yield. Several common plastics (including polyethylene) can be produced from cellulosic feedstock via ethanol and then downcycled into gasoline, kerosene, and/or diesel in a low-temperature pressure cooker.

We could also produce dimethyl ether (DME), a very promising diesel-type fuel, directly from cellulosic waste via catalytic methanol dehydration synthesis. DME is an isomer of ethanol (both are arrangements of the formula C2H6O) with an ideal cetane rating of 55 and a low molecular weight compared to traditional diesel fuels for much cleaner combustion.

[mustaffa]

08:13 PM on 02/16/2010

yaeh!

[Iowafarmgal]

07:35 PM on 02/16/2010

We have "algae refining" plant locally and so far all they've done is take several million in USDA rural development money! THEY HAVE PRODUCED NOTHING!!!!!!!!!!!! The only people making money off of algae are the folks selling the refinery equipment (very high dollar). I know a little about biodiesel production and even though the idea of obtaining oil from algae sounds wonderful the truth is (despite what this article says) oil has never been produced from algae.

[FranklinCat]

11:42 PM on 02/16/2010

Don't be so GD stubborn when it comes to thinking:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article4133633.ece

[Iowafarmgal]

12:43 AM on 02/20/2010

Facts are facts.

[Jimbo23]

06:24 PM on 02/16/2010

I love how good news just strikes us dumb around here. If this goes great for everyone what will we fight about?

Seriously, cheers USAF for just figuring out a solution rather than fiddling around with politics while Rome burns. If they can make this work and it mainstreams they will have saved as many lives as they ever took. Not that this justifies old school carpet bombing or anything.

[hidenout]

07:35 PM on 02/16/2010

Read about these projects a while back. It seemed truly viable at the time. Glad to hear something may be coming out of all the research.

[Republitarian]

05:39 PM on 02/16/2010

I generally think all of you ecowackos are nuts. But there is a finite amount of petroleum in the earth, and God/Darwin isn't making any more dinosaurs. Some day, jets will have to be powered by something other than 10th Century technology (kerosene).

I just question how the hell you get enough land mass to grow all the algae.

[protagonia]

06:42 PM on 02/16/2010

You just became one digit less ignorant than before.

Bravo.

[Republitarian]

08:32 PM on 02/16/2010

Thank you?

[OMG1]

08:42 PM on 02/16/2010

OK i take back my republitard comment.

[gjohnthehorrible]

05:33 PM on 02/16/2010

Algae fuel the wave of the future.