Will Yucky Green Algae Be The Basis Of Gas For My Car In The Years To Come

The land of 10,00 lakes, Minnesota, is the place I grew up. As expected, I did a lot of swimming. One thing which did certainly not make swimming pleasurable was algae. yuck.

While the subject of algae as gas for our automobiles may be fairly new, algae them selves are not new. Research workers guesstimate that they have been around for billions of years. Besides being old, they are also not rare In fact they can be found in every part of our planet from the most frigid to the warmest areas. They are able to double in a matter of hours and are the main producers of vegetable oil on the planet.

Oil is relatively affordable nowadays, but in the recent past it has sold for more than $100 a barrel. Its continuing use also increases the worry of on-going co2 pollutants and the continuous impact that this will have on climate change. So when it comes to going green, there is not much that is more green than algae.

Algae is quick growing and for the purpose of being used as a fuel, it can be farmed in city wastewater, processed at existing oil refineries and then marketed through existing fuel stations. As cited before, algae feeds on carbon dioxide, and this is a enormous extra benefit. As a promising future fuel source for our motor vehicles, algae gives us several reasons to be excited.

As reported before, algae consumes carbon dioxide. This means that the more algae is farmed as a source for gas, the more carbon dioxide it will get rid of from the atmosphere. In view of the fact that algae can be grown from wastewater or salt water, the farming process will not mean using or supplanting any pre-existing farmland which is presently being used for conventional farming. The food supply of our country will not be adversely influenced by the farming of algae.

Because algae grows so quick, having the ability to double in amount in just a few hours, it has the potential to be harvested daily. This capability means that it possesses the potential to create a enormous amountof biofuel for commercial use. Algae also is able to generate up to fifty times more oil for each acre than more traditional plants have been able to do in the past for the production of vegetable oil.

Algae can not only be used as a source for biofuel, but it can be developed to have high levels of protein and oil content that can be used for feedstock as well. In addition, algae is a frequent ingredient in natural skin care products and cosmetic makeup products Iodine, Omega-3 fatty acids and chlorophyll are all found in algae. The disgusting green stuff is actually good for you. Just don't go eating out of the lake in Minnesota.

So how long until we start to see algae based gas being offered at our nearby fuel station. As a viable biofuel, algae is still under development. All throughout the world researchers are testing different strains of algae in different environments; wastewater, saltwater and fresh water, to determine the greatest farming. While this is going on, biofuel refineries are being built in anticipation of future production needs.

It will be a while before all these pieces come altogether, but the future seems bright for algae as a possible gas source for the future.

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