Energy Game Changer? Scientists Turn Algae into Crude Oil in Less Than an Hour

wildtimes



The leftovers are clean water, a mix of fuel gases and nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium that can be used to nourish more algae.

Mad algae disease here we come!!!

It's not going to be "suppressed," for it's a feasible energy source. It's better for the planet than oil drilling, although the pollution caused by it is still a concern. The problem is that other alternatives than biofuel are too expensive. For instance, solar panels are expensive because one substance in it is very rare. Wind turbines are expensive because they need to be huge to produce a decent amount of electricity. Many areas on the planet aren't that windy either. As someone previously stated, hydrogen fuel cells haven't really been completed yet. Nuclear fusion has yet to work efficiently (more energy to produce than the amount that's produced) on planet Earth (anything you read about any success longer than a second or so is a lie). Fission can led to nuclear disasters. And yada yada. The point is, algae is probably our best option at the moment, and I'm sure most people agree with that. Hopefully it becomes widespread enough before fracking does in the U.S.

Just how long have Methane, Hydrogen, and battery powered cars been around? Untill they cost the same to run as Gasoline cars, the above three will be orphans, I bet the algae cars will be orphans too.

This is the part where big oil lobbies to have its puppet poloticians shut this down. If I were one of these scientists I would fear for my life right now. Mysteries car accidents, sudden cancer ... Maybe they can make the formula viral before they get erased and this whole thing swept under the rug to but doubt it.

Wish they would release their notes on this to the public. If cost is one of the big draw back putting it in to the hands of small time and hobby researchers would speed up the process of cutting the cost.

I also wonder if this same crude oil could be used in plastic as well.

Here is a link to the research lab.

PNNL: Algae to crude

They have a little more info on their site then the news has out right now, but not by much.

why does our energy problem always revolve around burning something, taking oxygen out of the air and replacing it with carbon dioxide. even I, a laymen of science, knows this is not sustainable. my own theory is that the obvious other sources of power have a hard time making money for a few select people

wildtimes
reply to post by Bedlam

 

Is it? I looked in Fragile Earth. If it's elsewhere, sorry...
still - good news! Wanted to spread it around.

what it means is that we can continue to be a petrol based economy once oil reaches something in the neighborhood of $300 per barrel.

reply to post by wildtimes


Nice break for them! I have to wonder, though, if they aren't wrong on the way it forms naturally. I remembered reading something about fields replenishing themselves, some years back, and digging around, found a couple of links:

link 1

link 2

I know back then, there were a lot of articles on this, and I thought it was fascinating! Maybe these researchers simply found a way to duplicate what really occurs! In any case, it's a cool breakthrough.

jimmyx
why does our energy problem always revolve around burning something, taking oxygen out of the air and replacing it with carbon dioxide. even I, a laymen of science, knows this is not sustainable. my own theory is that the obvious other sources of power have a hard time making money for a few select people

You mean the other non-dangerous methods of... exploding or imploding stuff?

Of course its not sustainable. You have to get energy *from somewhere*. It doesnt just appear out of thin air, unless we go into the magical la-la land of zero point energy or something - which on the other hand is probably far, far more dangerous than burning a log.

Sidenote: Solar power is not sustainable since our Sun is being an arse and only shine during the day.

reply to post by wildtimes


How is this a game changer? This is nothing new.

It's only a game changer if it can produce the same amount of oil we consume daily at or below current prices.

reply to post by antonia

It's only a game changer if it can produce the same amount of oil we consume daily at or below current prices.

Lots of people have responded with "economic" logic. I don't really care much about money - I care about the planet's health. I think current fossil-fuel energy is bad, although I realize it is an idealistic dream to think we could all just co-exist with the planet as she is.

I care about a commitment to sustainable, clean energy that doesn't strip-mine, pollute, damage, alter the planet's natural systems. The tech will follow. It's the innovation that impresses me.

reply to post by wildtimes


It's not an innovation. That technology has been around for years.

The economics do matter. No one will use it until it is economically viable. Idealism may not be nice, but it doesn't pay the bills. No one care about Ideas or the planet. They care about money. Sorry, that's reality. I'd like to see something different too, but it won't come until it is economically viable.

Maybe I am just a cynic, but I have a feeling that future information on this technology will not be forthcoming. The oil companies will do whatever they can, starting with attempting to buy the technology or the inventors, along with everything in between, potentially culminating in highly illegal actions, in an attempt to keep such tech from hitting the marketplace.

I mean think of what this would do to their profits. If people were to look up how much money just US oil companies alone make per year, they would be astouned. The number would be huge. You want to know how much they make in just a day? About $300 million. THAT is a crazy number. In 2011 they were making over $350 million dollars APIECE. So you think that people who are making that kind of money are going to let someone interfere with their profits if they can help it?

Many believe, with good reason, that oil companies have suppressed technologies that would have reduced the cost of oil, or eliminated the need for it altogether. This is a documented fact, in that we know oil companies buy up ideas, patents, prototypes, and any such type of tech that they can, tech that could interfere with people buying oil.

The oil companies had it better under Bush, since he too was an oil man, and he helped them make even more money, ESPECIALLY by lying to the public to start an illegal war, by which these companies, whom he was personally connected to, made trillions of dollars. Heck, they are STILL making the big bucks from his lie. THAT is crazy. People want to badmouth Obama, failing to realize there are more important issues out there in most cases, although not all cases.

aha, "good news" THEY are among us, their physiology harmful excess oxygen and they THEMSELVES will not stop until you reduce the oxygen content in the atmosphere. in this video www.youtube.com... in Russian language dude gets gasoline from GARBAGE 1 liter 0,04 rouble ..p.s. however, the first place I would have left for those who start up on fuel and fertilizer those creatures that kill our planet

reply to post by mangust69

aha, "good news" THEY are among us, their physiology harmful excess oxygen and they THEMSELVES will not stop until you reduce the oxygen content in the atmosphere.

Whoa....wait. What?

in this video www.youtube.com... in Russian language dude gets gasoline from GARBAGE 1 litr 0,04 rouble

Very good...(the part where they're making gas from garbage)

..p.s however, the first place I would have left for those who start up on fuel and fertilizer those creatures that kill our planet

You mean you'd prefer to put some people in the garbage, I think. Is that right?

I'm sorry - huge language barrier here, but, I simply do not understand what you are trying to say. Could you try again?
Who is "their" physiology harmful excess oxygen and "they"?

I'm thoroughly confused by your post, but very interested in what you are trying to say.

reply to post by wildtimes
buddy has two categories of people who do not need to explain, and to whom it is impossible. but the hint was a precedent THEM allegedly burned in ovens and ashes fertilize gardens

reply to post by mangust69


Okay, never mind. We're not connecting here, and this isn't about the holocaust. Or soylent green.

reply to post by wildtimes


It's not a perfect solution, fossil... er Algae Fuel is still a major pollutant. This Crude produces by algae will still have to be transported which could cause spills, stored which could cause explosions or fires. I would rather see an answer to our problems moving away from fuels like these, how ever it's definitely a band-aid to get us there. Anything that can provide a renewable source of fuel is great, I only wish it was in a direction different than combustion based fuel.