(I’ve been interested in this approach since I first heard about it a few years ago; glad to see people investigating it as a serious fuel source. – promoted by JulieWaters)
gushes a reporter from Cheapflights.com
Pond scum…algae .It seems unlikely but some big money is going into research .Fuel from corn seemed like a great idea at first until planting it for fuel started to disrupt food supplies and raise costs .What volume of algae would it take to even be a major fuel supplement let alone saving the airline industry as we know it? Pond scum natural and cultivated must have some function in the scheme of things that may get out of whack if massive amounts are cultivated or taken for fuel . I hate to be negative to new ideas but painting these too good to be true industry promoted solutions as magical saviors of our current energy lifestyle is misdirected .Perhaps, it’s a part of the puzzle. A multitude of economic,governmental and lifestyle factors have gotten us to this point fuel-wise and sadly I can’t imagine pond scum saving us.
“Given the social, economic, and environmental possibilities for algae, and the growing number of companies, technologies and products being developed to address them, it is becoming increasingly important to harness their potential for use across multiple industries now,” said Billy Glover, managing director, Environmental Strategy, Boeing Commercial Airplanes, and ABO (Algal Biomass Organization )steering committee co-chair.
http://www.biofuelreview.com/c…
Sapphire Energy came stealth mode on Wednesday, saying that it has produced the chemical equivalent of gasoline with algae. The San Diego, California-based company also disclosed that it has raised $50 million from Arch Rock Ventures, Venrock, and the Wellcome Trust.
Formally launched last May, it said on Wednesday that it has hired Brian Goodall who led a team of engineers responsible for a cross-Atlantic Virgin Atlantic flight that used algae-based fuel earlier this year.
Sapphire Energy’s ”green crude” has been certified with a 91-octane rating, but disclosed few details about its technology.
Its process can grow algae using wastewater and the executive team is confident that the technology can scale up to produce by a gasoline at commercial scale, according to the company.
http://www.baystreet.ca/articl…
Sapphire CEO and co-founder, Jason Pyle, is being cagey about revealing how much it costs to produce his algae-based product or how much it would cost at the petrol pump. In interviews, he indicated that production costs per barrel would be similar to petroleum-based fuel, which is very much a moving target at the moment.“Sapphire Energy was founded on the belief that the only way to cure our (US) dependence on foreign oil and end our flirtation with ethanol and biodiesel is through radical new thinking and a commitment to new technologies,” he told the recent Simmons Alternative Energy Conference.