Large-Scale Algae Biofuels Currently Unsustainable, New Report Concludes

ScienceInsider ^ | 24 October 2012 | Robert F. Service

[Wally_Kalbacken]

Is that unsustainable subsidy free, or unsustainable after bleeding the taxpayers?

I thought so.

[PA Engineer]

Maybe they should look first at all the Clarifiers before new “green” programs. There are a lot of BTUs in BS (including human).

[GraceG]

A lot of things that use government subsidies are unsustainable, and this is news....

Let the private sector figure it out, if someone can make a bio-reactor pump out enough “green fuel” that is costs less than regular fuel then like the man who invented a better mousetrap the world will beat a path to their door...

[GraceG]

Today, if you invent a better mousetrap, the government comes along with a better mouse.

~Ronald Reagan

[Vince Ferrer]

Obama and Algae

[count-your-change]

Plenty of room for improvement...that's what my high school coach told me, boy, did I show him he was wrong!

Algae is kinda like that. You can see that there's a good idea buried in that green slime but when anyone tries to make it perform...reality rears its ugly head and bites them.

All a person has to do is turn thousands of square miles into algae ponds and then harvest the slime and turn it into oil. No problem, afterall it worked on a test pond.

“Son, you have a lot of room to improve”.

[who_would_fardels_bear]

If harvesting excess algae from the sea is not a viable source of fuel, then why they heck are they testing methods which require the growth of even more algae?

I thought one of the side benefits of using algae was to clean up some of the algal blooms in places like the Gulf.

If we're just gonna fill the landscape with ponds filled with scum then what's the point? We're already doing too much of that in Washington, D.C.

[staytrue]

This is really important technology to master if we are ever to go into space.

Algae consume light energy, carbon dioxide, nitrogen (human urine), and water and produce hydrocarbon (food and fuel) and oxygen.

For a long space flight, algae could close the loop in supporting humans.

Furthermore, in the event that excess co2 is a real problem, then algae would help close the loop there too.

[neverdem]

Thanks for the link.

[American Constitutionalist]

The only thing “ Green “ about Green energy is the mount of money that is invested into it.

[Baynative]

It didn’t this story for me to know algae is a loser for fuel. I know nothing at all about it, but I saw Obama touting it a while back and that’s all the info I needed.

[jwsea55]

The phosphorus/fertilizer issue has been known for awhile. The percentages I saw were actually worse than this article mentions. The industry stuff I saw, algae would need 200% above of total world phosphorus production.

There is actually great promise in reclaiming the energy in the sewage reclamation plants.

[Carry_Okie]

But there are many different approaches to growing algae, such as growing the microscopic plants in shallow outdoor ponds, or in enclosed plastic tubes called bioreactors.

Neither of those approaches appeals to me. Large bags floating on the ocean on the other hand look to me like a neat way to get free "land," plenty of sun, and free agitation. Containment from the environment would be a snap with a fresh-water-only plant at sea. If the weather gets rough, just sink the whole system to about a hundred feet down. When it's done, pump it into a tanker with the reactors on board. Use the dry waste for aquaculture.

[Carry_Okie]

There is actually great promise in reclaiming the energy in the sewage reclamation plants.

Farm soil kinda needs that material flow.

[Carry_Okie]

The industry stuff I saw, algae would need 200% above of total world phosphorus production.

Seeing as phosphorus is undesirable in the oil itself one would think that would be a closed loop requiring a one-time supply, that is, unless we wanted that phosphorus for something else such as animal feed, in which case it would be replacing an existing material flow.

[A Navy Vet]

I once was looking at investing in bio-fuels thinking it may be the next big thing. After much research and commonsense, I decided not to simply because it would take too much area to grow the algea. The same problem with solar and wind energy sources - huge land areas that have no infra-structure with lines to consumers. We’ve seen how well those renewable fuels have worked out, as in bankruptcy.

[DannyTN]

"The committee noted that none of the sustainability concerns is a definitive barrier to the development of algal biofuel as a fuel alternative. Biological and engineering innovations have the potential to mitigate the resource demands associated with algal biofuel, including research toward the following goals:" Report In Brief

[neverdem]

Thanks for the link.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks neverdem.

• As many as 50 Obama-backed green energy companies bankrupt or troubled
• Obama Poised to Inflict Draconian, Bizarre EPA 'Green' Regs if We're Dumb Enough to Re-Elect Him