I will believe the Saudis don't see any upcoming problems with Ghawar when they cancel one of their projects due to low oil prices. If they continue to be full steam ahead with increasing their capacity then I think they are aware that Ghawar may not be as robust in 5 years time as they would like us to believe.
National Algae Association Being Formed to Advance Biodiesel Production
January 29th, 2008 by Max Lindberg
High soybean and palm oil prices are sending biodiesel producers looking for a less expensive feedstock for their product. The poster child these days appears to be algae, pond scum with dignity.
Several companies are now researching and beginning to produce oil derived from algae... as a feedstock for biodiesel production. They claim higher oil yields for less water and acreage needed for food crops.
The National Algae Association informed Green Options it has opened its new headquarters in The Woodlands, TX. An article in Biodiesel Magazine quoted the association founder, Barry Cohen of Biofuel Capital Partners, as saying “We’ve got biodiesel producers that are contacting us every single day because they know they’ve got a problem”, referring to high soybean and vegetable oil biofuel feedstock costs.
In my interview with Glen Kertz, CEO of Valcent Products, Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary, How Does Your Garden Grow? Vertically?, he says one acre of corn will yield about 18 gallons of oil. The same acre of ground would produce about 600 to 700 gallons of palm oil a year, and one acre of algae, with his process right now will produce 33,000 gallons of oil a year, and they are pushing for 100,000 gallons a year. Kertz told me if he were given one-tenth of the state of New Mexico, his process would solve every energy need in the U.S. for one year.
If you’d like to see the process in action and hear from Mr. Kertz, you will find their video at the Valcent Products page. _________________ Just another tofu-munching bike-riding Rambo(/Rambette)
Posted: Wed Jan 30, 2008 12:49 pm Post subject: Re: Biodiesel from Algae Article
Shell has a pilot facility in Hawaii for growing algae and testing species to see which produces the most vegetable oils for biodiesel. Algae grows fast and is rich in veggie oil. And growing fuel from algae dosent interfere with food production since we don't eat algae.
This could be the start of something big
Posted: Wed Jan 30, 2008 1:09 pm Post subject: Re: Biodiesel from Algae Article
Might be. It's the only biofuels proposal I've seen yet that I see having a shred of hope. _________________ Just another tofu-munching bike-riding Rambo(/Rambette)
Posted: Wed Jan 30, 2008 1:23 pm Post subject: Re: Biodiesel from Algae Article
Pixie wrote:
...and one acre of algae, with his process right now will produce 33,000 gallons of oil a year, and they are pushing for 100,000 gallons a year. Kertz told me if he were given one-tenth of the state of New Mexico, his process would solve every energy need in the U.S. for one year.
As with everything else, its not production that is the problem, its scale.
Think we have fertilizer supply problems now, just wait until one tenth the state of Mexico is producing 100,000 gallons per acre per year.
Algae oil production may have a roll in suppling the energy needs for critical services of a local population (such as farming and emergency vehicles) but you won't be running your SUV on it (or even your Prius for that matter).
In the future liquid fuels of any form will just be to precious to waste on recreational travel _________________ Angry yet?
Posted: Wed Jan 30, 2008 1:34 pm Post subject: Re: Biodiesel from Algae Article
Algae will have no role. The U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory conducted a multi-year multi-million dollar investigation on algae that was terminated in 1995 or so. Energy production was determined to be impossible. To summarize:
1. Simple single cell organisms do not grow well under laboratory or agricultural conditions. They are susceptible and die from subtle changes in ph, CO, O2, temperature, sediment, invasive competitors (bacteria, virus, fungus, rogue algae etc.), nutrient levels, sunlight changes, etc. etc. For this reason outdoor ponds do not work.
2. Outdoor and indoor facilities (tanks, biogenerators, etc.) are not cost effective and require precise controls. (see above)
3. Algae bred (and fed) for lipid production do not breed well, so cultures can not be ramped up.
There are dozens of threads on this subject. Use the search button on top or ask at the 'Technical Support' forum for instructions. _________________ ree rah rip ram. sunofabitch godamn. hidey didey christ almighty. rah rah crap
Posted: Wed Jan 30, 2008 1:42 pm Post subject: Re: Biodiesel from Algae Article
pstarr wrote:
Algae will have no role. The U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory conducted a multi-year multi-million dollar investigation on algae that was terminated in 1995 or so. Energy production was determined to be impossible. To summarize:
1. Simple single cell organisms do not grow well under laboratory or agricultural conditions. They are susceptible and die from subtle changes in ph, CO, O2, temperature, sediment, invasive competitors (bacteria, virus, fungus, rogue algae etc.), nutrient levels, sunlight changes, etc. etc. For this reason outdoor ponds do not work.
2. Outdoor and indoor facilities (tanks, biogenerators, etc.) are not cost effective and require precise controls. (see above)
3. Algae bred (and fed) for lipid production do not breed well, so cultures can not be ramped up.
There are dozens of threads on this subject. Use the search button on top or ask at the 'Technical Support' forum for instructions.
The Hawaii lab is different. It is modeled after labs that grow algae for pharmacutical and nutrition purposes. Everything is carefully tested including CO2. Algae has potential if conditions are right.
Right now it is still in the experimental stages.
Last edited by vampyregirl on Wed Jan 30, 2008 1:46 pm; edited 1 time in total
Posted: Wed Jan 30, 2008 1:43 pm Post subject: Re: Biodiesel from Algae Article
I also see the prospect of Biodiesel from algae as potentially replacing crude oil altogether. The reason why may differ from other opinions so far in this thread.
I see human development as a series of discoveries, revolutions in technology, and as such have always seen both Peak Oil and Global Warming as problems that would have to be solved with new technology.
If we mark the transition of energy usage from its earliest start using wood, then coal, onward to oil and natural gas, then nuclear, we can see a transition unpward in levels of technology. With that progression in mind, it seems apparent that the next revolution in energy technology will come from a mass produced substitute microbe produced form of oil, such as algae bio-diesel, or E-Coli (bacterium) synthesized fuel, as recently discovered by UCLA and then licensed to a private corporation. The next evolution in energy production after microbe produced oil will be fusion, but that is still many decades away.
Don't get me wrong - I'm certainly all to aware of our current Peak Oil situation, and as things stand our world energy situation can go one of two ways. Either we can suffer the descent of oil production, or we can change course with a substitute form of oil. Whether it is scenario A or plan B, will depend on the time it takes to complete the research and development, and as someone previously stated in this thread - scales of production.
Time is tight, very tight, yet not improbable at this point in time. A smooth transition can still occur, but it will take all parties involved for it to happen. If a Republican gets elected that doesn't believe in Global Warming or Peak Oil, then nothing will happen for Plan B. If a Democrat gets elected, like Hillary, who wants to invest 50 billion a year in renewable technolgy, and hopefully will at some juncture see the value of a microbe produced oil, then we have a chance with Plan B.
Posted: Wed Jan 30, 2008 1:58 pm Post subject: Re: Biodiesel from Algae Article
OilMagnate-Not wrote:
If a Democrat gets elected, like Hillary, who wants to invest 50 billion a year in renewable technolgy
Yeah, $50 billion for ADM and the corn ethanol hucksters. Nothing new here, buy Iowa's votes and move on. _________________ "It's called the American Dream because you'd have to be asleep to believe it."
Posted: Wed Jan 30, 2008 2:13 pm Post subject: Re: Biodiesel from Algae Article
Corn ethanol won't do it, but algae bio-diesel could. However, it will take a President with vision. Be sure from King Bush's attitude it won't come from a Republican. They despise the average person, only sucking up to the super-wealthy. The super-wealthy can buy gas at a 1,000 bucks a gallon. We need a Prez that will empathize with folks struggling to fill their tanks and scale up for algae ethanol production.
Posted: Wed Jan 30, 2008 2:18 pm Post subject: Re: Biodiesel from Algae Article
emersonbiggins wrote:
OilMagnate-Not wrote:
If a Democrat gets elected, like Hillary, who wants to invest 50 billion a year in renewable technolgy
Yeah, $50 billion for ADM and the corn ethanol hucksters. Nothing new here, buy Iowa's votes and move on.
That is the truth. It seem political expediency will rule the roost even as the bastards chop down the nesting tree the dumb clucks are roosting in _________________ ree rah rip ram. sunofabitch godamn. hidey didey christ almighty. rah rah crap
We believe multi-cellular organization is where it's at, with our mesoderms and our Mercedes, but there are some super-powered single cells which are far more than meets the unaided eye. We might think their mightiest power is confining us to the bathroom after an ill-advised late night snack, but having only one cell to deal with means bacteria can adapt incredibly well - and a single mutation can give rise to powers that make Professor Xavier's wheelchair-accessible mansion look like a home for people who are good at minigolf. Here we look at five organisms that would be called the Super-Cells, if that name wasn't probably already taken by Michael Crichton.
1) Eat Radiation
Humans have only three responses responses to radioactive waste: pay someone else to take it away quickly, die, or develop superpowers. Unfortunately the last option has a vanishingly small success rate and the tragic side-effect of utterly destroying the victims fashion sense. Luckily a species of bacteria with the ability to consume uranium and other extremely antisocial wastes has been discovered by US scientists - and as a bonus, it's utterly impossible to make a crap movie adaptation of a bacteria.
Geobacter sulfurreducens has already been used at the Rifle Mills site to clear up a large amount of what the nuclear industry calls "oops!", and what us non-radioactive humans call "a goddamn nuclear contamination of groundwater and the Colorado river". Following on the brave scientific tradition of not only looking a gift horse in the mouth but sending it to the vet for a full set of dental X-rays, some scientists suggest the metal-munching microbe could form the basis for a bio-battery cell. Because when you've fed a superpowered organism nothing but nuclear waste for years, nothing can go wrong with then sticking it in a box and carrying it around with you.
2) Generate Electricity
For those who prefer not to expose living creatures to nuclear radiation (environmental activists, vets, those living in areas threatened by Godzilla), scientists at Penn State have played microbial matchmaker - pairing bacteria which can work together to consume cellulose and generate electricity. Such bio-electrical sources are gaining momentum as attempts to find non-petroleum based power sources: the cellulose-fuelled option is popular because of the large volumes available, either as waste from agriculture and food processing or harvested from renewable forests.
The production of energy from cellulose is a trick we've been trying to copy from termites for a while - though the idea of basing our energy economy on ravenous vermin would make Agent Smith shout "See! I was right!" Attempts to exactly replicate the mechanism used in insect stomachs have so far failed (and probably led to a few scientists wondering, in the dead of night, if this is what they really expected to be doing with their lives). Many research efforts are now directed at finding a more manageable version of the same process, of which this binary design is one of the more unique.
3) Make oil without the inconvenient "millions of years" thing
In more proof that the line between being retarded or a genius is often whether people tell you to shut up before you try something, a geneticist and a biologist asked "Why don't we just make more petrol?" Before anybody could explain that you'd need a Delorean with an extremely large trunk, and that people would get annoyed when you started stealing animals just to dump them in a hole the cretaceous period, George Church and Chris Somerville of San Carlos-based firm LS9 engineered a form of E. Coli which produces hydrocarbon chains with promising petrol potential.
This work provides an interesting environmentalist dilemma - on the one hand it could eliminate the need for oil drilling altogether, but it would also remove the current impetus to develop alternative energy sources that don't depend on the "burn stuff and don't breathe the smoke" strategy. Not to mention that a sentence involving "E.Coli", "petrol" and "genetically engineered" may well be enough to make an eco -activists head explode on the spot.
Posted: Sun Jul 06, 2008 5:08 pm Post subject: Re: Super Single Celled Organisms that can Make Oil...
Talk about multi-tasking. Can they make me a BLT and take away my gut? _________________ ree rah rip ram. sunofabitch godamn. hidey didey christ almighty. rah rah crap
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ree rah rip ram. sunofabitch godamn. hidey didey christ almighty. rah rah crap 
even as the bastards chop down 
the nesting tree 
the dumb clucks are roosting in 
