Diesel fuel made from algae?
Fuel can and is being made from just about anything today. Algae is no exception.
Why are algae preferable over corn? Microalgae has a much faster growth-rate, for one. As part of the photosynthesis process, algae produce oil and can generate 15 times more oil per acre than other plants used for biofuels such as corn and switchgrass. Algae can also grow in salt water, freshwater or even contaminated water, at sea or in ponds, and on land not suitable for food production. This is good news in the sense that we don’t have to waste freshwater to create it.
On top of those advantages in using algae — at least in theory — is that it should grow even better when fed extra carbon dioxide (the main greenhouse gas) and organic material like sewage. If so, algae could produce biofuel while cleaning up other problems.
The difficulties in an efficient biodiesel production from algae lie in finding an algal strain with a high lipid content and fast growth rate that isn't too difficult to harvest, and a cost-effective cultivation system (i.e., type of photobioreactor) that is best suited to that strain.
Another obstacle preventing widespread mass production of algae for biofuel production has been the equipment and structures needed to begin growing algae in large quantities.
Open-pond systems for the most part have been given up for the cultivation of algae with high-oil content. In a closed system (not exposed to open air) there is not the problem of contamination by other organisms blown in by the air. The problem for a closed system is finding a cheap source of sterile carbon dioxide (CO2). Several experimenters have found the CO2 from a smokestack works well for growing algae.
So how will having alternative diesel fuel help our economy? In the United States, oil is primarily used for transportation - roughly two-thirds of all oil use, in fact. So, developing an alternative means of powering our cars, trucks, and buses would go a long way towards weaning us, and the world, off of oil. While the so-called "hydrogen economy" receives a lot of attention in the media, there are several very serious problems with using hydrogen as an automotive fuel. For automobiles, the best alternative at present is clearly biodiesel, a fuel that can be used in existing diesel engines with no changes, and is made from vegetable oils or animal fats rather than petroleum.
One of the biggest advantages of biodiesel compared to many other alternative transportation fuels is that it can be used in existing diesel engines without modification, and can be blended in at any ratio with petroleum diesel. This completely eliminates the "chicken-and-egg" dilemma that other alternatives have, such as hydrogen powered fuel cells.
With biodiesel, since the same engines can run on conventional petroleum diesel, manufacturers can comfortably produce diesel vehicles before biodiesel is available on a wide scale - as some manufacturers already are (the same can be said for flex-fuel vehicles capable of running on ethanol, gasoline, or any blend of the two). As biodiesel production continues to ramp up, it can go into the same fuel distribution infrastructure, just replacing petroleum diesel either wholly (as B100, or 100% biodiesel), or blended in with diesel. Not only does this eliminate the chicken-and-egg problem, making biodiesel a much more feasible alternative than hydrogen, but also eliminates the huge cost of revamping the nationwide fuel distribution infrastructure.
Currently most research into efficient algal-oil production is being done in the private sector, but predictions from small-scale production experiments bear out that using algae to produce biodiesel may be the only viable method by which to produce enough automotive fuel to replace current world diesel usage.
Greg Chapman of Greg Chapman Motors is a knowledgeable and leading provider of used cars, trucks, and SUV’s. Since 1959, Chapman motors has supplied reliable used cars in Austin and the surrounding area and is known as one of the bad credit car dealers in Austin. For more information please visit http://www.gregchapmanmotors.com.
Why are algae preferable over corn? Microalgae has a much faster growth-rate, for one. As part of the photosynthesis process, algae produce oil and can generate 15 times more oil per acre than other plants used for biofuels such as corn and switchgrass. Algae can also grow in salt water, freshwater or even contaminated water, at sea or in ponds, and on land not suitable for food production. This is good news in the sense that we don’t have to waste freshwater to create it.
On top of those advantages in using algae — at least in theory — is that it should grow even better when fed extra carbon dioxide (the main greenhouse gas) and organic material like sewage. If so, algae could produce biofuel while cleaning up other problems.
The difficulties in an efficient biodiesel production from algae lie in finding an algal strain with a high lipid content and fast growth rate that isn't too difficult to harvest, and a cost-effective cultivation system (i.e., type of photobioreactor) that is best suited to that strain.
Another obstacle preventing widespread mass production of algae for biofuel production has been the equipment and structures needed to begin growing algae in large quantities.
Open-pond systems for the most part have been given up for the cultivation of algae with high-oil content. In a closed system (not exposed to open air) there is not the problem of contamination by other organisms blown in by the air. The problem for a closed system is finding a cheap source of sterile carbon dioxide (CO2). Several experimenters have found the CO2 from a smokestack works well for growing algae.
So how will having alternative diesel fuel help our economy? In the United States, oil is primarily used for transportation - roughly two-thirds of all oil use, in fact. So, developing an alternative means of powering our cars, trucks, and buses would go a long way towards weaning us, and the world, off of oil. While the so-called "hydrogen economy" receives a lot of attention in the media, there are several very serious problems with using hydrogen as an automotive fuel. For automobiles, the best alternative at present is clearly biodiesel, a fuel that can be used in existing diesel engines with no changes, and is made from vegetable oils or animal fats rather than petroleum.
One of the biggest advantages of biodiesel compared to many other alternative transportation fuels is that it can be used in existing diesel engines without modification, and can be blended in at any ratio with petroleum diesel. This completely eliminates the "chicken-and-egg" dilemma that other alternatives have, such as hydrogen powered fuel cells.
With biodiesel, since the same engines can run on conventional petroleum diesel, manufacturers can comfortably produce diesel vehicles before biodiesel is available on a wide scale - as some manufacturers already are (the same can be said for flex-fuel vehicles capable of running on ethanol, gasoline, or any blend of the two). As biodiesel production continues to ramp up, it can go into the same fuel distribution infrastructure, just replacing petroleum diesel either wholly (as B100, or 100% biodiesel), or blended in with diesel. Not only does this eliminate the chicken-and-egg problem, making biodiesel a much more feasible alternative than hydrogen, but also eliminates the huge cost of revamping the nationwide fuel distribution infrastructure.
Currently most research into efficient algal-oil production is being done in the private sector, but predictions from small-scale production experiments bear out that using algae to produce biodiesel may be the only viable method by which to produce enough automotive fuel to replace current world diesel usage.
Greg Chapman of Greg Chapman Motors is a knowledgeable and leading provider of used cars, trucks, and SUV’s. Since 1959, Chapman motors has supplied reliable used cars in Austin and the surrounding area and is known as one of the bad credit car dealers in Austin. For more information please visit http://www.gregchapmanmotors.com.
Labels: algae, alternative fuels, biodiesel, biofuels
posted by Greg Chapman at
7:02 PM
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