The Oil Drum

Nice links and photos. I presume the 3rd photo is an artist rendering? Anyway, read National Geographic's article on the potential for algae ethanol and was impressed by how much more fuel could potentially be produced over a year's time. It was 3,000 gallons for corn ethanol, and as much as 50,000 gallons for algae ethanol, due in great part to the speed at which algae grows year round. Most people are not aware that the oil we use is the result of millions of years of compression and heat applied to dead algae. As the oceans stagnated algae filled them, then sank to the bottom, the ocean life died due to a lack of oxygen and soil filled over those layers, techtonic plates slipped and moved and eventually all that algae ended up as oil in two distinct layers in the crust, dating back from two eras 90 and 150 million years ago.

So it would seem that if oil can be mass produced as a viable form of ethanol, our best bet is to find ways to scale up algae ethanol production. We flew back from Oklahoma to California via an airline that flew too slow and too low, but what I realized from the view was just how many empty valleys there are in Arizona, Utah and Nevada that could be used to make ethanol.

I think the process of using CO2 enriched air as a way to capture it from Coal should not be requisite to make algae ethanol. It would seem that if plain old simple air is pumped fast enough the CO2 will get converted and we should have lots of fuel, but I'm not certain of that - please illuminate me. As a result, as an investor, I have been keeping my eye on Greenfuel Tech., waiting for that right company to invest in. My understanding is Verasun has a stake in Greenfuel, so if it does take off they may be a good bet. Right now I'm taking a wait and see approach. But certainly one to watch.

The window frame of opportunity to catch the world economy before it dumps in catastrope, by way of a scaled up mass produced fuel, is still open but we must move fast. Otherwise at some threshold of price for energy the world economy will stagnate, then price of energy and economic activity will balance/stalemate at some tepid level not conducive to well being of 6.5 billion people.