Algae, the photosynthetic organisms that float at the ocean’s surface, already produce roughly three quarters of the planet’s oxygen. But one group of scientists think these simple cells could do even more to clean the atmosphere.
Algenol, a Florida-based biotech company founded in 2006, has patented a way for the blue-green, single-celled organisms to produce four key fuels — ethanol, gasoline, diesel and jet fuel — all for a little under $1.30 a gallon and with two-thirds less greenhouse gas emissions.
While it may sound strange to think of pulling up to a gas station to buy algae, supporters point out that’s what drivers are already doing: crude oil pumped from underground is often derived from algae that settled on the seafloor eons ago and decayed into a waxy substance known as kerogen. When heated by pressure, kerogen liquifies into either oil or natural gas. Essentially, Algenol has condensed the timeline, creating the biofuels at their four-acre plant, rather than waiting for them to be drilled out of the crust.
In broad strokes, Algenol’s technology looks similar to what many biofuel companies already do to ferment sugars from corn, soybeans or animal fats into fuels like ethanol. But its method requires no farmland or freshwater. Instead, Algenol’s algae hangs in bags of seawater and is exposed to the Florida sunshine and carbon-dioxide to produce the sugars required for ethanol directly. That’s where the science gets tricky: by adding enzymes, the process enhances algae’s fermentation, so that it devotes its energy to producing sugar for fuel rather than its own maintenance and survival. After that, the spent “green crude” by-product is further refined into other fuels. The company boasts that the process is far more efficient than anything farm-raised, converting more than 85 percent of its inputs into fuel.
It’s an impressive scientific achievement, but Algenol’s financials face strong headwinds. A recent glut of oil from worldwide markets caused a steep drop in prices at the pump, creating obstacles to market penetration and slowing emergent technologies. And major support from the federal government, in the form of grants, loans and tax credits, largely expired in 2011. In late October, the company announced a 20 percent reduction in the workforce and the Algenol’s founder, Paul Woods, stepped down.
While cheap gas may be a boon to consumers’ pocketbooks now, eventually we will all have to pay the steep price for its pollution. It’s up to us to pick what kind of algae we want to keep putting in our cars.
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Tag: ethanol
Read About the Remarkable Scientists Making Corn-Free Ethanol
When we first heard of the sustainable biofuel known as ethanol, it was heralded as a smart, home-grown alternative to our dependence on foreign oil. It turns out, however, that while corn-based fuel has a lot going for it, it’s far from being the most environmentally-friendly type of energy.
There are a whole slew of problems with ethanol — from the amount of land space, natural resources, and startling amount of money it takes to grow so much corn. (It takes, for example, about 800 gallons of water to grow a bushel of corn, which yields just three gallons of ethanol.) The challenge, it seems, is to find a way to reap all the benefits of ethanol without taking a toll on the planet.
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Now, it appears, researchers from Stanford University have developed an eco-friendly alternative to traditional ethanol. The best part? They’ve done it without using any corn or other crops.
As announced in a recent press release, the California-based team has figured out how to produce liquid ethanol from carbon monoxide gas using an electrode made of a form of copper.
Matthew Kanan, an assistant professor of chemistry at Stanford and co-author of study, told Reuters that the prototype could be ready in two to three years.
“I emphasize that these are just laboratory experiments today. We haven’t built a device,” Kanan said. “But it demonstrates the feasibility of using electricity that you could get from a renewable energy source to power fuel synthesis — in this case ethanol. There are some real advantages to doing that relative to using biomass to produce ethanol.”
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As Fox News puts it lightly, the team has pretty much produced fuel out of thin air. Just think — if this Stanford method were to actually leave the laboratory, it could completely eliminate acres and acres of crops, water and fertilizer needed to produce biofuel. Sounds like smart — not to mention, eco-friendly — move to increase our country’s energy independence.