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Aquafornia “By substituting some of the crops that are more water intensive for algae, that water can be sent into the Salton Sea and the collapse of the habitat from increased salinity might be thwarted,” said Neal Driscoll, professor of geology at Scripps Institution of Oceanography. [...] This innovative and worthwhile project is being funded with stimulus money. The project is being hosted at the 995-megawatt Cholla Power Plant in northeastern Arizona. Early results indicate that the algae are able to capture 70 metric tons of carbon dioxide per pond acre per year. [...] Today, the most fervent attention in biofuel development has shifted from soil to the sea, and specifically to marine algae. “Algae yields five to 10 times more bioenergy molecules per area, per time, than any terrestrial plant,” said Mitchell, a native of oil-rich Houston, Texas. “Nothing else comes close.” It can also absorb CO2 [...] Melting icebergs release iron particles which cause algae blooms, which in turn absorb carbon emission, then sink to the bottom of the ocean for hundreds of years A researcher says, “The Earth itself seems to want to save us.” Green algae may turn out to be the best friend humanity ever had, slowing global [...] Not only does algae produce vastly more oil per acre than corn or palm, this new vertical growing method is closed loop, which means water continually is recycled and thus is much more eco-friendly. And the process sequesters co2 as it creates algae. [...] A carbon-neutral coal plant? Sounds crazy but maybe not. Here’s the idea. Use carbon emissions from coal plants to grow algae which would then be converted to fuel for the power plant or into biodiesel and ethanol. Preliminary tests shows the idea has promise. Let’s hope it scales and can be done on a mass [...] VentureBeat thinks maybe it could. Biodiesel can be made from algae, as can ethanol. One company thinks they can make hydrogen from it, another says they can create the equivalent of sweet light crude (this would be approaching the Holy Grail, top quality petroleum from renewable sources) None of these plans are at the [...] Algenol plans to build a saltwater algae plant in the desert in Mexico. Unlike other methods that require the algae be squeezed to product the oil, they’ve GMO’ed algae to create ethanol directly, and claim the output is dramatically greater than using corn or sugar cane. And it doesn’t require using farmland better used [...] PetroSun asserts that an area the size of Maryland could produce enough algae biofuel to satisfy the entire fuel requirements of the United States. What’s more, algae doesn’t need fresh water or land used for agriculture, and can produce a whooping 30 times more energy per acre than other methods. Maybe someday (soon) [...] Excellent scientific explanation of how algae can produce mass quantities of biofuel while sequestering carbon at the same time. |  | ||||
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