Algae farm someday could produce biodiesel of choice

Ironic.
Little over a hundred years ago...PETROLEUM was something BAD which polluted the water!...then we turned it into a fuel source.

Now...it's ALGAE.

More proof that there is NO SUCH THING AS A "RESOURCE" that humans can 'run out of'.

Resources themselves are creations of the human mind.
We have UNLIMITED resources.

(just a little point for ARGUMENT next time you find yourself in a debate with a liberal tree-hugger type)

The U.S. Department of Energy researched algae for nearly 20 years but cut the program in favor of ethanol research."

You think the Corn growers lobby had anything to do with that?

just saying wrote:

The U.S. Department of Energy researched algae for nearly 20 years but cut the program in favor of ethanol research."
You think the Corn growers lobby had anything to do with that?

No. They cut the research back when oil was $20 a barrel. It didn't make financial sense to continue.

liberals hate facts wrote:

<quoted text>No. They cut the research back when oil was $20 a barrel. It didn't make financial sense to continue.

You are correct, the Feds dropped the funding when the price of oil fell like a rock. Thankfully, the researchers found a home at ASU and continued their work. However, the prior poster is also correct, in that the corn and soybean lobbyists have prevented federal research grants from reaching the companies doing R & D on algae. Look for big things to come from PetroAlgae. They are the real deal.

mls wrote:

<quoted text>
You are correct, the Feds dropped the funding when the price of oil fell like a rock. Thankfully, the researchers found a home at ASU and continued their work. However, the prior poster is also correct, in that the corn and soybean lobbyists have prevented federal research grants from reaching the companies doing R & D on algae. Look for big things to come from PetroAlgae. They are the real deal.

PetroAlgae is just one of MANY companies pursuing the industrial production side.

Eventually, I believe that the technology will leak out and tinkerers will begin their own production as well.

It must take tons of energy and water to grow, harvest and process all of this algae. I doubt it is anywhere near as efficient as oil.

poor taxpayer wrote:

It must take tons of energy and water to grow, harvest and process all of this algae. I doubt it is anywhere near as efficient as oil.

Please go get educated on the topic.

Yes...energy....FROM THE SUN!!! Water....uh...have you looked around and noticed...THIS IS FLORIDA--high humidity, lots of water (btw...the water can be recycled and reused once the algae is farmed out of the containers.....mere FACT that you might want to consider)

The 'nutrients' needed...ironically....are plentiful.....simply set up camp next to a power plant or a brewery...or ANYTHING that puts off that 'evil' greenhouse gas--CO2...and you've got all the nutrients needed to drive the process.

And given that soybean and corn combined don't produce 100 gallons of oil per acre...yet there are those claiming they can get 100,000 gallons of oil peracre of ALGAE....I'd think that it's far more efficient than you might think......

http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/science/04/01/al...