Posted on 03/02/2011 2:44:33 PM PST by Wonder Warthog
Joule Unlimited has invented a genetically-engineered organism that it says simply secretes diesel fuel or ethanol wherever it finds sunlight, water and carbon dioxide.
The Cambridge, Mass.-based company says it can manipulate the organism to produce the renewable fuels on demand at unprecedented rates, and can do it in facilities large and small at costs comparable to the cheapest fossil fuels.
Joule's process directly yields hydrocarbons that are fungible with existing diesel infrastructure, unlike the biodiesel product that is produced from algal oil.
Highlights include:
Based on empirical measurements, Joule can directly produce 15,000 gallons of diesel per acre annually, as compared to 3,000 gallons of biodiesel produced indirectly from algae.
The solar-to-product conversion efficiency of Joule's direct, continuous process for producing diesel, ethanol and chemicals is between 5 and 50X greater than any biomass-dependent process, and gains additional efficiencies by avoiding downstream refining.
Joule's combined advances in genome engineering, solar capture and bioprocessing result in photosynthetic conversion efficiency of more than 7% relative to available yearly solar energy striking the ground, many times greater than prior
Apparently, that is precisely what these guys are doing. I don't see anything about "subsidies" being used. Apparently all funding has been venture capital.
Hm.
I think the income from 15,000 gallons of diesel per acre per year would dwarf any possible subsidies currently given to produce ethanol.
Why "Hm"?? Put a natural gas co-gen electrical plant next door and feed the exhaust gases to the "bugs".
Well, we use 80 million barrels a day and we have a domestic
supply that supplies 32 million barrels a day. That means
that we need an additional 48 mbd. Works out to 1,825 sq.
miles without the support acreage or the amount of water being used.
Yup. I cottoned on to that further down in the article.
Cover the entire southwestern desert with algae ponds....it might make a dent in the supply.
Hope this is not another “cold fusion” flap. Other parties have to reproduce the results before it is believable.
I agree. Next they'll have ManBearPig in their TV advertisements.
“Hope this is not another “cold fusion” flap.”
Actually, “cold fusion” is looking a bit warmer these days.
http://www.lenr-canr.org/News.htm
See the articles about Rossi.
Process doesn't use algae and is far more efficient than algal approaches. The necessary land is a minute fraction of the "southwestern desert".
If you're talking about crude oil, I think the figures are more like 21 mbd total US consumption and 7.5 mbd domestic production.
Worldwide consumption is around 80 mbd.
I am skeptical but of course I support their efforts and wish them the best fortune. I am skeptical because I sense some unstated tradeoffs or drawbacks. One expert indicated that the process may just be substituting one bottleneck (distilling diesel from foodstock or biomass) for another bottleneck (separation of diesel from water). I cannot evaluate this potential tradeoff but I feel confident that this process is not a free lunch.
My other concern involves biodiesel subsidies and mandates. The 2007 energy bill has enormous mandates for biofuels. I am concerned that this technology will be brought to market to satisfy the mandate regardless of its viability.
Probably some investment required there.
I have always thought there was something to cold fusion. Back in 1988 when it was first announced I went and bought the WSJ because of the coverage in there.
If I had a say in where Federal research money goes I would put 100 million into cold fusion long before the “green energy” schemes that get funding. One example is growing algae in ponds to turn into biomass to make ethanol. Can you imagine the massive energy expenditures just to dry out that goop.
Yeah, I read those comments by the "expert" and wonder what his actual technical background is. As a chemist with decades of experience in the petrochem industry, I have a pretty good idea of the various separation techniques, and the separation doesn't appear to me to be all that difficult. Either simple density/solubility differences should do it, but if not, continuous solvent extraction with a volatile hydrocarbon like pentane should work.
Yup. One of the links has pix of the reactors. I'm sure they will need capital investment, but they don't look terribly complex or expensive.
Yes, but avoiding all that is exactly what the Joule technology is about. Their process goes straight to diesel with minimal biomass growth.
Yes. Joule seems to avoid having to dry out algae. Good luck to them. But if it works any kind of scaling up will cost trillions. Joule said it would need land the size of Texas panhandle to make enough to cover all US energy consumption.
So far Joule does sound credible
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.