25 Responses

1. chroniclerofthe70s

   July 31st, 2011 at 11:45 pm

   1

   @bobstevefrank123 The production of Hydrogen requires energy. Hydrogen must be compressed. A readily available Hydrogen infrastructure must be in place before societies use hydrogen vehicles. Bioreactors can be vertical and inexpensive. Genetically modified algae can be made more efficient. A carbon dioxide source can be produced within enzymatic reaction vessels coupled to vertical bioreactors. However, I believe the ultimate source of energy will be anti-matter collision reactions.

2. esnap

   August 1st, 2011 at 12:43 am

   2

   What these hippies will never understand is energy conversion and potential/over head. You see 1st off you will only get 1000 watts max energy from the sun on a 1sq meter of surface. You’d be better off using PV to capture that energy. It takes about a gallon and a half of petroleum to make 1 gal of ethanol and I bet it will take 10 gals to make 1 gal of B100 from algae.

3. bobstevefrank123

   August 1st, 2011 at 12:52 am

   3

   @donsjuand …So algae biofuel will have a future in certain places where its need is simply pragmatic. As a long term and singular solution for the energy crisis, however, algae biofuel will never make the cut.

4. bobstevefrank123

   August 1st, 2011 at 1:14 am

   4

   @donsjuand …Hydrogen does not have the constraints that accompany biofuels. You don’t need a massive farm or expensive bioreactors. An electrolyzer can fit in your garage. I believe this, or something similar to it, has more promise for the future than algae biofuel. Algae biofuel still has the complication of running CO2 through the closed bioreactor. This is feasible for perhaps placing next to a factory (i.e., run the carbon from the smokestacks through a pipe leading to the bioreactor)….

5. bobstevefrank123

   August 1st, 2011 at 2:08 am

   5

   @donsjuand …better solar panels. If we do get better solar panels (perhaps with nanotechnology), wouldn’t it be a better idea to simply use the solar electricity to charge a battery? But batteries may not be efficient even in the future (due to physical limits)–so using solar electricity to create a chemical fuel sounds like a good idea. That’s one place where biofuels could come in. But a frankly more efficient fuel is hydrogen (that is, using the solar electricity to split water)….

6. bobstevefrank123

   August 1st, 2011 at 2:09 am

   6

   @donsjuand Well, the vital point here lies in your second point. There needs to be a great deal of energy put into the process to turn biological lipids into fuels that a combustion engine could use. This is true of any biofuel. The energy must come from someplace, and so long as the grid is using coal, that is what is going to be used to create these novel fuels. Renewables like solar are a good idea, but right now it is still expensive. But then, you say, we should invest in researching…

7. AndrewDeLong

   August 1st, 2011 at 2:14 am

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   @TheGecefeneri Yes, why do you ask?

8. AndrewDeLong

   August 1st, 2011 at 2:19 am

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   @brianng999 That depends how they are processed. With algae, a centrifuge process is used to ectract the oils, so there’s not necessarily more grehouse gasses created.

9. brianng999

   August 1st, 2011 at 3:14 am

   9

   @AndrewDeLong But doesn’t the processing of the biofuels also create more greenhouse gases…

10. OrganicDrew

    August 1st, 2011 at 3:42 am

    10

    If Congress has the authority to prohibit cannabis, how long will it take for them to prohibit home made algae to benefit the oil companies who want to keep you dependent, or to prohibit tomatoes and basil. Their authority is derived from Commerce to which it has no end, when you do not affect or enter into commerce the prohibition can not affect your activity. Study Property law and you will find the only criminals out there are the politicians who violate American Jurisprudence OVERTLY ! ! !

11. AndrewDeLong

    August 1st, 2011 at 4:07 am

    11

    @bobstevefrank123 Take into consideration the amount of potential biofuel each produces per acre per year.
    Corn: 370 Gallons of fuel per acre/per year
    Sugar Cane: 890 Gallons per acre/per year
    Algae: Up to 5000 gallons per acre/per year

    Now tell me, how is that inefficient, considering that the processing is roughly the same (in terms of energy input) for each fuel source?

12. VerbalizedPhrases

    August 1st, 2011 at 4:15 am

    12

    @bobstevefrank123 Please consider that, I wonder what you think =)

13. VerbalizedPhrases

    August 1st, 2011 at 4:23 am

    13

    @bobstevefrank123 “Algae biodiesel is a horribly inefficient version of using electricity derived from solar panels to power your car”
    THIS! Think about this. Do you know, how much power is lost by saving electricity? Do you know how much it costs?
    Crude Oil is so much more efficient (In price and energy-saving) than any alternate source, because it is cheap to save and transport it.
    Now Algae Oil keeps that effect up. But is renewable, other than crude oil, that we already lack of.

14. Mudwiggler

    August 1st, 2011 at 4:57 am

    14

    The bullshit book

15. aloisgault

    August 1st, 2011 at 5:27 am

    15

    another bleeping commercial. Another “buy this book scam” as well.

16. sejlefrew

    August 1st, 2011 at 5:59 am

    16

    Scam. This is not what I think of when someone mentions algae biofuels, instead I see genetically modified cyanobacterium hardwired to produce large amounts of alkanes from sunlight and fixing CO2 as a carbon source.

17. donsjuand

    August 1st, 2011 at 6:26 am

    17

    @bobstevefrank123 They could run algae processing on traditional fuel, initially, to create backup algae fuel, then use that for production. This is the trend with non-volume technologies – they cost a lot at first, the demand gradually increases or a large purchase or investment is made, the producers learn how to improve efficiency, work with manufacturers to clarify their needs, manufacturers adapt to needs, producers improve and we start to see efficiency gains. This is normal.

18. bobstevefrank123

    August 1st, 2011 at 6:49 am

    18

    @bobstevefrank123 … to ethanol. Algae biodiesel is a horribly inefficient version of using electricity derived from solar panels to power your car (which is what we should really be focusing on instead of biodiesel pipe dreams).

19. bobstevefrank123

    August 1st, 2011 at 7:43 am

    19

    @donsjuand I’m making my judgment on a few assumptions. One is that any “algae biodiesel” plan would use the current technologies for processing biomass to liquid hydrocarbons. The other is that this would be done using a genetically modified strain of algae, and would thus need to be contained in a bioreactor to avoid cross contamination with other species.

    On these assumptions, algae biodiesel is so incredibly inefficient. The most efficient biomass to fuel plan is sugar cane (not corn)….

20. donsjuand

    August 1st, 2011 at 8:13 am

    20

    I saw a blog by a teacher who got students to make algae fuel that drove them to Chicago!

21. donsjuand

    August 1st, 2011 at 8:34 am

    21

    The cost and knowledge to make this at home makes this not worth your time and money. Although algae bio-fuel is THE contender to eventually replace fossil fuels.

22. donsjuand

    August 1st, 2011 at 9:25 am

    22

    @bobstevefrank123 Sure it takes energy to make it. I’m not sure what you mean by economic sense. I think with cooperation and common logic this could be or is resolved. The questions are:
    What compels interdisciplinary cooperation towards a common goal of sustainable energy?
    What are all the options for lipid extraction/production equipment?
    Which are the most life-cycle efficient to operate?
    What is the most efficient source of clean energy available to power them?

23. BallsOnFire83

    August 1st, 2011 at 10:15 am

    23

    fuck you!

24. electro1300n

    August 1st, 2011 at 10:43 am

    24

    Stop polluting You Tube. If you want to sell your book for the outrageous amount of money go to E-bay.
    Your such a piss off……. Give me money…. so I can cut more trees to print my book…..for GREEN energy
    Is there a lack of intelligence in the process or are some people just too greedy.
    Welcome to the GREEN world. For you it’s the world of green paper….or money

25. claudius2u

    August 1st, 2011 at 10:51 am

    25

    Silly people! $99.99 for a book on how to develop lots of questions about oil algae production is a lure for suckers!