Making oil from algae

[Bill Thompson]

Making oil from algae

www.news.com/1606-2_3-6212986.html?tag=ne.video.6208760

Could this lead to breaking dependence on foreign oil? Could this lead to less international conflicts?

[Jason]

If the U.S. really wanted to be indpendent of foreign oil we could do it now by building refinaries to turn coal into oil and work on the technology to convert oil shales more efficiently.
Or we could even drill in ANWR and increase off-shore drilling.
And we could build more nuclear power plants.

The problem is not the techonlogy (except in the case of oil shale, which up to now hasn't been as economic as other methods), it is the political will to do so over the objections of environmentalists.

[echnaton]

It could help. I've read a little about this. They grow a special algae that produces a lot of fats. The growth takes place in the big shallow trays. The tricky part is opening the algae to release the oils and separate them from the remainder of the plant. People have been working on this for a long time but funding comes and goes with the price of oil. In ten years, oil won't be so expensive and funding will fall if the process hasn't made sufficient progress. We will have to wait and see.

If the technology proves viable, several western desert states will suddenly become big energy producers. Those barren reservations in Arizona would make good farm land. Even Texas may once again increase oil production. It couldn't be worse than making fuel from corn.

[PhantomWolf]

In ten years, oil won't be so expensive and funding will fall if the process hasn't made sufficient progress. We will have to wait and see.

Highly unlikely.

While there are plenty of reserves left, and we're not going to run out in the near term, with India and China demanding more and more, there is going to be a squeeze very shortly as we face the point where we simply just can't pump it out of the ground as fast as people are demanding to use it. When that happens, and it is likely to be the next 2-3 years, today's oil prices are going to be looking low.

[echnaton]

That may be the result but I think differently.

Oil and other natural resource commodities are cyclical in price. Demand and price boom when the economy picks up, like what happened after the end of the US recession. This spurs both development of new resources and conservation. At some point in the cycle, production capacity sufficiently exceeds demand that the price declines. For oil its a multi year cycle.

Capital spending in oil production is very high right now. So high that some manufacturers of oil drilling rigs are building new rigs without waiting for customer orders. Drilling for oil is occurring at a historically high pace. Demand will rise but production is improving every day. My prediction is that in less than ten years, excess production capacity will be sufficient to force prices down.

[Bill Thompson]

Oil -- from the ground -- can be used to make plastics. I do not know if this algae oil has the same ability. If not, we should start process this stuff as soon as possible before we burn away a more precious substance.

[Grand Lunar]

Another process, I forget the term, can also be used to take in used oil, cooking oils and greases, offal from meat factories, plastics, rubber, and a whole slew of other items, and make refined oils and mineral products. Even biological and toxic wastes can be processed.
It's similar to the process that makes fossil oil in the first place, but faster.

The process was used in the past, but it took great lengths to remove water. This new process adds water, making it more efficent.

Has anyone heard of it, or know what I speak of?

[ShowCon]

GL,

You're thinking of thermal depolymerization, also known as thermal conversion.

There is a full-scale plant in Missouri that converts waste from a Butterball turkey processing plant into light oil that can be used in turbine generators. The waste from the process is used as an organic fertilizer.

Discover magazine had a big article about the plant a few months ago.

More info: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermal_depolymerization

Doug

[Grand Lunar]

Thanks, ShowCon!
That's exactly what I was thinking of.

I wonder just how far this technology can go. It'd be neat if instead of garbage going to a landfill, it goes to such a processing plant.

[ShowCon]

GL,

I read about another process that does almost exactly that. It turns trash into hydrogen.

www.startech.net/overview.html

It uses a plasma torch to break down just about anything organic into 'synthesis gas' and a molten glass slag. The gas is converted into hydrogen or can be pumped dirctly into a gas turbine generator. The slag goes into a landfill.

Hope it works out.

Doug

[lionking]

mythane gas that goes off landfills can be collected and used as gas instead of going to the air and causing pollution and global warming. ther are many ways that are environmentally sound to use energy instead of wasting fuel and resources, but thet are not applied everywhere.

[Ginnie]

I remember reading last year (in Wired, I believe) about a wind turbine generator for the home. I was about 3 1/2 feet high and cost about $4000 (U.S.). Supposedly, it could supply all the energy for one small modest home. I think it was being made in FInland.
Shoot, I live in Canada, we have lots of wind - why isn't there stuff like this over here? And if there is, why don't we hear about it?
Four thousand dollars doesn't add much onto the cost of an average house.
Businesses, in co-operation with government, should be pushing into these areas and getting development going on these types of projects before it's too late.

[BertL]

I live in the Netherlands, on what used to be an island. Part of the sea was dried about 75 years ago, and is now used by farmers. There are a few villages as well. But the point is, there are a lot of wind turbines (we call them "wind mills", although they don't resemble real mills at all) here, and it's a pretty sight bicycling to school in the early dark.



There are also plans to place a "wind turbine park" in one of the seas nearby. Quite promising, I must say.

[Joe Durnavich]

Bert, are those wind mill farms noisy at all?

[echnaton]

Parts of western Texas are covered in wind farms. They are particularly heavy in passes between hills and mountains because of the strong winds. I have only seen them from a distance or while in a car. They are reputed to be noisy but I find them very graceful looking. It is fairly common to see the blades being trucked down a highway.

The problem with wind energy and many alternatives to fossil and nuclear fueled electricity plants is the variable nature of the energy source. On a large enough scale, such as a city, demand for electricity is fairly steady and the sources need to be able to provide steady power. You can't necessarily just shut down a turbine at a gas fired peaker plant when the wind comes up if you can't be sure that the wind will stay. Since the wind dies at night in many places, wind turbines don't function well as base load plants. One solution is to have turbines in places with different wind patterns to help guarantee a steady flow, but this raises the price. Also the seasonality of winds may not match the peak needs for power. Wind may have a place, but it is an expensive alternative right now.