
'First economical process' for making biodiesel fuel from algae - ph0rque
http://esciencenews.com/articles/2009/03/25/first.economical.process.making.biodiesel.fuel.algae
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ams6110
Potentially very good news -- algae is not a food crop nor does it complete
for acreage otherwise available for growing food. Also they seem to have
figured out how to run a continuous rather than a batch-oriented production
process, which should scale better.

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nebula
Well, it's potentially a very dangerous thing for our ecosystem, given that
our oceans are already in deep trouble:
[http://www.ted.com/talks/sylvia_earle_s_ted_prize_wish_to_pr...](http://www.ted.com/talks/sylvia_earle_s_ted_prize_wish_to_protect_our_oceans.html)

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joe_the_user
I couldn't read the video but I am pretty sure that most biodiesel algae
processes are and will remain based on algae farmed on land in shallow pools
rather than some kind of system for straining the ocean.

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jerf
Yes. To the best of my knowledge, the first paragraph is typical journalism
cluelessness. Nobody is talking about harvesting algae, there's no way that
would be feasible. Don't know whether to blame the journalist for
editorializing on the availability of algae or if (s)he was misled by a
source.

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physcab
I thought the limiting problem with this type of technology was that the type
of algae needed was very expensive to obtain. I'm no bio-nut though.

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baguasquirrel
This ought not be a problem. It's an up-front cost. The algae reproduces on
its own after you seed it in your grow ponds, yes? The whole concept is
centered around harvesting the said algae after that.

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joe_the_user
Yes, initial cost of algae could not be a problem since it reproduces itself.
But how effectively it reproduces itself over time is problem I've read about
- the algae that's good for biodiesel tends to be out-competed by general-
purpose algae that blows in over time. I am not sure how the "breakthrough" in
this article relates to this problem.

