TWC - Week 09 - Part One

I was introduced the a very interesting concept of creating biofuel using algae during lesson. So i made a search and found that it is indeed a feasible alternative to fossil fuels! I would like to share some interesting points as stated in the website.

It all started about three years ago when inventor Jim Sears wanted to think of a solution to mass-produce biofuel.

As quoted from the website, The science is simple: Algae need water, sunlight and carbon dioxide to grow. The oil they produce can then be harvested and converted into biodiesel; the algae's carbohydrate content can be fermented into ethanol. Both are much cleaner-burning fuels than petroleum-based diesel or gas.

Like what most people knows, fossil fuel is a depleting source. However, right now we are able to produce an new alternative source of energy which is more green and i believe is a renewable energy.

Given the right conditions, algae can double its volume overnight. Unlike other biofuel feedstocks, such as soy or corn, it can be harvested day after day. Up to 50 percent of an alga's body weight is comprised of oil, whereas oil-palm trees—currently the largest producer of oil to make biofuels—yield just about 20 percent of their weight in oil. Across the board, yields are already impressive: Soy produces some 50 gallons of oil per acre per year; canola, 150 gallons; and palm, 650 gallons. But algae is expected to produce 10,000 gallons per acre per year, and eventually even more.

In fact, the amount of energy that algae biofuel is able to provide is also quite substantial.

"If we were to replace all of the diesel that we use in the United States" with an algae derivative, says Solix CEO Douglas Henston, "we could do it on an area of land that's about one-half of 1 percent of the current farm land that we use now."

Since algae biofuel is so great, then what is stopping them now? Well, actually base on the website, nothing is stopping them now and in fact, they are facing a challenge that is of good news to everyone in the world!

The main focus now, says Cary Bullock, GreenFuel's president and CEO, is figuring out "how to grow algae fast enough and cheap enough that it makes sense economically. That's not easy to do."

I truly look forward to the day when this technology is greatly accepted all over the world. It is truly an eye opener for a student like me who have always thought of algae as just another green and disgusting organism which grows and provides food in the water. My perspective of energy generation has been opened wider in lesson.

Read more: Pond-Powered Biofuels: Turning Algae into America's New Energy - Popular Mechanics
An additional source of information for Algae biofuel if anyone is interested is here: Algae: 'The ultimate in renewable energy'