[USFRIENDINVICTORIA]

“Venter’s renewable oil kills two birds with one stone: ....”

And that bird killing will be the end of the story, once the envrionmentalists team up with PETA to oppose the product.

[Cicero]

Maybe it’s doable, and maybe not. But off the top of my head, I’d be a bit worried about lab-created algae that is 100% more efficient than natural algae. What happens if it gets loose on all our lakes and ponds?

[ElectronVolt]

Of all the alternative energy ideas, this is the one that has potential viability without subsidies. Biodiesel has hurt my wife's business because one of the things she purchases is tropical oils. Several years ago, I looked into why prices were jumping up, and biodiesel was a major factor. I did some digging into how biodiesel is made, and I talked to the owner of a biodiesel company and asked him about the algae research. He thought it had major potential, and I also found that United Airlines (I believe) was sinking a lot of money into the research.

Environmentalists hate this fuel because it "causes global warming," so I'm inclined to like anything they hate. Still, we'll never know the true viability until it can compete with no government subsidy.

[UnbelievingScumOnTheOtherSide]

And if it ever meets the oil-eating algae, we may get buried in them...

[ckilmer]

If ventor is figuring that his strains won’t be viable for a decade—then he is going to be completely shut out by his friend Church who is currently advisor to a company called joule that is building a 1000 acre farm in New Mexico that is expected to go into production late next year. They say their initial trials produced oil for 1.20 a gallon. They expect to their volume production to do the job for .6@gallon

[Moose Burger]

Theoretically it makes sense (on the sense of “it doesn’t make no sense”). But this article quotes no papers and the single name (Elbert Branscomb) is from the Department of Energy. I’ll be skeptic about what do they really have.

[Moose Burger]

Hm, sorry, I kind of missed Craig Venter.

[Moose Burger]

Better links: http://www.jcvi.org/cms/research/groups/synthetic-biology-bioenergy/

[jjotto]

If oil prices remain high, say over $40 or $50 a barrel, then it's viable.

This claim makes the whole piece suspect.

[jjotto]

hehe

Plenty on this previously on FR:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2660302/posts

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2682641/posts

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2757893/posts

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2806994/posts