Biodiesel from algae may be viable. Here is a quote from an article on Shell’s venture:
“Shell bets on algae to make biodiesel
By Ed Crooks
Published: December 12 2007 02:00 | Last updated: December 12 2007 02:00
Royal Dutch Shell hopes to build a commercial plant producing biodiesel from algae in two years’ time, following the launch yesterday of a joint venture to develop a research project in Hawaii.
The joint venture, with Hawaii-based HR Biopetroleum, will initially build a small research plant but hopes to move to a full-scale commercial plant of 20,000 hectares. Shell said it expected yields of about 60 tonnes of oil per hectare a year, meaning a full-scale plant would produce 1.2m tonnes of oil a year.
The two companies did not reveal the size of the investment, but Shell will have a majority stake in the company, called Cellana.
Shell has held back from production of first-generation biofuels such as ethanol and biodiesel from vegetable oil, focusing on second-generation fuels that can be produced from non-food plants or plant waste. It has argued that government support for biofuels ought to give greater incentives to second-generation products on the grounds they are likely to have much better environmental performance, particularly in cutting carbon dioxide emissions.”
Link http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/0c2d084a-a857-11dc-9485-0000779fd2ac.html?nclick_check=1
I think it is viable. Here in Orlando we have a lake, Lake Apopka, which is biologically dead, except that it’s filled with algae. That would be the perfect place to test this. I suspect that even though the lake is already polluted beyond belief, the environmentalists would object.