It took geology hundreds of millions of years to create the fossil fuels that power modern society. Can humble algae compress this process into months and make it carbon neutral?
Picture the emissions from a factory being piped into a growing facility. Fueled by sunlight, algae would algae consume carbon-rich emissions and create an oily sludge. Now imagine that once this oil is extracted, you are left with a carbon-dense byproduct that, if stored right, will keep carbon locked away from our atmosphere.
This vision has gained backing from companies like BP, Google, and General Electric. And it’s the rationale behind Bio Fuel Systems, a company in Spain that creates “Blue Petroleum” out of algae. Its plant, located in a coastal desert, is fueled by emissions from a nearby cement factory.
Currently, corn ethanol is our biggest source of renewable biofuel. When you fill up at the pump, 10% of your gas is corn-based. But generating this ethanol consumes 40% of the nation’s corn and turning food into fuel has a lot of critics.
This is where algae hold promise. The blue-green algae preferred for biofuels grows faster than traditional crops and contains some 300 times more oil per acre. Algae can be grown on marginal land, so operations don’t need to displace forests or farms. And they can use wastewater, freeing up freshwater supplies.
Bio Fuel Systems produces a barrel of crude oil per acre of algae daily. Start-up technology is expensive, algae require nutrients for optimal growth, and continual stirring requires electricity. In the absence of incentives, there are obstacles to profitability.
Web Links
New Scientist
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21628941.600-biofuel-thats-better-than-carbon-neutral.html
Photo, taken on April 19, 2011, courtesy of DMGPR via Flickr.
Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio. Support for Earth Wise comes from the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies in Millbrook, NY, with partial support from the Field Day Foundation.