7 yrs ago, algae could be turned into oil at around $5 per gallon

[sdowney717]

Green Oil: Scientists Turn Algae Into Petroleum In 30 Minutes

'We've proven it can be done.'

www.forbes.com

I imagine 7 yrs ago prices would be lower, so maybe now algae into oil would cost 7 or 8 per gallon of fuel.
Algae into oil never going to make it to markets in a meaningful way [political statement removed]

 

[sdowney717]

If the government triples your fuel costs for GND legislation, will you vote them out and demand they change the laws?

 

[Rmay635703]

Algae biodiesel and Syngas (butanol) can be made for less than $2 a gallon if located next to a coal fired plant (Colorado experimental plant was targeting $.99)

However, the few places that can make this stuff cheaply found industrial clients more than willing to pay a premium for 100% of production.

There isn’t enough supply to get this stuff into fuel, if gas got too expensive maybe but supply would need to be expanded


Our first legal plastic to gas plant (pyrolysis) has started in the US and those involved are exaggerating the process as being extremely difficult and technical.
Even though various guys have been making diesel fuel from plastic in their backyard with a simple $99 reactor for close to 2 decades

I see a great need to dispose of plastic and making it back into $0.50 a gallon sulphur free fuel is probably the best bet of any of the technologies.

Though making coal exhaust into a commodity is somewhat gratifying

 

[wpod]

If the government triples your fuel costs for GND legislation, will you vote them out and demand they change the laws?

I do what the Tv tells me to do and think what the Tv tells me to think.

 

[Rmay635703]

I do what the Tv tells me to do and think what the Tv tells me to think.

As long as you don’t watch scripted television like Newsmax where actors play parts adding drama to fantasy you will be fine.

 

[wpod]

If the government triples your fuel costs for GND legislation, will you vote them out and demand they change the laws?

We will reelect them for life.

 

[wpod]

As long as you don’t watch scripted television like Newsmax where actors play parts adding drama to fantasy you will be fine.

I haven't found much of a difference on any of the Tv or radio news, the concerned sounding woman says a few sentences of the script and the man says a few sentences of the script . I guess it is supposed to be cute or some thing. Maybe lend credibility?

 

[bbhero]

As long as you don’t watch scripted television like Newsmax where actors play parts adding drama to fantasy you will be fine.

All of it is foolishness.

No matter who does it. The people on the supposed main stream news or the other one that network.

Real independent thought or non agenda driven information is impossible to see or find.

 

[sdowney717]

Algae biodiesel and Syngas (butanol) can be made for less than $2 a gallon if located next to a coal fired plant (Colorado experimental plant was targeting $.99)

However, the few places that can make this stuff cheaply found industrial clients more than willing to pay a premium for 100% of production.

There isn’t enough supply to get this stuff into fuel, if gas got too expensive maybe but supply would need to be expanded


Our first legal plastic to gas plant (pyrolysis) has started in the US and those involved are exaggerating the process as being extremely difficult and technical.
Even though various guys have been making diesel fuel from plastic in their backyard with a simple $99 reactor for close to 2 decades

I see a great need to dispose of plastic and making it back into $0.50 a gallon sulphur free fuel is probably the best bet of any of the technologies.

Though making coal exhaust into a commodity is somewhat gratifying

Plastic into fuel seems better to me than algae into fuel.
Article notes this bad thing about algae into oil. They call this kind of thing a scam.

A big criticism of corn ethanol over the years is that the process of growing it requires so much fertilizer, water and other energy inputs that by the time you've got it turned into ethanol you've lost energy not gained it. If an energy system has a negative net energy balance it is necessarily cannibalizing other energy sources.

This appears to be an inconvenient truth for algae as well. Most methods of cultivating it simply eat more energy than is contained in the algae.

 

[Rmay635703]

Plastic into fuel seems better to me than algae into fuel.
Article notes this bad thing about algae into oil. They call this kind of thing a scam.

This appears to be an inconvenient truth for algae as well. Most methods of cultivating it simply eat more energy than is contained in the algae.

I would argue plastic to fuel is a immediate need so long as we seem to lack the ability to recycle any meaningful amount of plastic
cause, contamination, no market, too expensive, too labor intensive, name the excuse

Genetically modified Algae fuel has been working great at the test station for nearly 30 years in Colorado
but the catch is only if it’s used to scrub industrial quantities of exhaust with a decent supply of free hot water, could be a real win win since pollution controls cost big $$$ to maintain even on gas fired plants

But…
AKA if it’s not attached to a power plant that spits out free above freezing water it’s not going to be cheap or even ethical as most of the US isn’t exactly a tropical paradise
that is why the petroleum companies hold nearly a hundred patents on it in regards to coal fired algae.
It was also very much on the table to use the algae/bacteria produced for other purposes .

If the economics move upwards you might see some companies make a move to installing runways or vertical water columns by power plant spillways

Right now the infrastructure simply isn’t worth the investment with $2 gallon fuel, even if $0.99 /gallon production cost is possible the infrastructure takes a long time to recover and the production capacity is limited by space, heat and light all of which add cost and obviously coal fired plants aren’t exactly on every city street corner limiting the QTY of “fuel” you could make in this manner.

If anything Algae fuel makes as much sense as solar or wind but no big money behind it and no use for the tech if we supposedly won’t have any power plants.

More interesting than algae diesel was the Russians genetically modified algae like creatures that made Butanol directly for gasoline engines, that particular Segway is blocked by private patents in Russia and the US Butanol producing counterpart found their output was much more valuable in the chemical industry than “fuel” and have no motivation to give up the golden goose.

At the end of the day simple economics will keep algae fuel out of the pump unless something dramatic changes, we still have plenty of fossil fuel and resources so no reason to look further

 

[sdowney717]

I would argue plastic to fuel is a immediate need so long as we seem to lack the ability to recycle any meaningful amount of plastic
cause, contamination, no market, too expensive, too labor intensive, name the excuse

Genetically modified Algae fuel has been working great at the test station for nearly 30 years in Colorado
but the catch is only if it’s used to scrub industrial quantities of exhaust with a decent supply of free hot water, could be a real win win since pollution controls cost big $$$ to maintain even on gas fired plants

But…
AKA if it’s not attached to a power plant that spits out free above freezing water it’s not going to be cheap or even ethical as most of the US isn’t exactly a tropical paradise
that is why the petroleum companies hold nearly a hundred patents on it in regards to coal fired algae.
It was also very much on the table to use the algae/bacteria produced for other purposes .

If the economics move upwards you might see some companies make a move to installing runways or vertical water columns by power plant spillways

Right now the infrastructure simply isn’t worth the investment with $2 gallon fuel, even if $0.99 /gallon production cost is possible the infrastructure takes a long time to recover and the production capacity is limited by space, heat and light all of which add cost and obviously coal fired plants aren’t exactly on every city street corner limiting the QTY of “fuel” you could make in this manner.

If anything Algae fuel makes as much sense as solar or wind but no big money behind it and no use for the tech if we supposedly won’t have any power plants.

More interesting than algae diesel was the Russians genetically modified algae like creatures that made Butanol directly for gasoline engines, that particular Segway is blocked by private patents in Russia and the US Butanol producing counterpart found their output was much more valuable in the chemical industry than “fuel” and have no motivation to give up the golden goose.

At the end of the day simple economics will keep algae fuel out of the pump unless something dramatic changes, we still have plenty of fossil fuel and resources so no reason to look further

I agree we have no need to look at any other fuel besides fossil fuels, into these others, but of course that is not where the politics wants to go. They want green energy carbon neutral and lately don't seem to care about the high economic costs as they view this as an existential crisis, these global warming messed up in the head people believe the world will be destroyed in 9 years from fossil fuel use.. are willing to pay any price for it.

 

[Rmay635703]

people believe the world will be destroyed in 9 years from fossil fuel use.. are willing to pay any price for it.

People may well be destroyed in 9 years, earth will go on fine afterwards .

 

[Zaedock]

these global warming messed up in the head people believe the world will be destroyed in 9 years from fossil fuel use.. are willing to pay any price for it.

Any price except giving up their plastic phone.

 

[JavierH19]

As long as you don’t watch scripted television like Newsmax where actors play parts adding drama to fantasy you will be fine.

So what news outlets would you recommend I watch. Let me guess. CNN? Msnbc?

 

[Rmay635703]

So what news outlets would you recommend I watch. Let me guess. CNN? Msnbc?

I don’t have cable so I could never watch either. Regular NBC has a bad signal and I don’t like their programming

I prefer the local papers since they actually cover things I care about.

Anything that is strictly opinion and drama with a slant is no better than watching an episode of 48 hours on the latest murder or for that matter getting your news from Family Guy.

The only televised News that is at least serious is on Sundays 60minutes,
Meet the Press, Fox News Sundays, Here and Now which focuses on Wisconsin all Sunday morning are held to different standards because they aren’t entertainment news.

And yeah I do “watch” most of my news Sunday, I will watch the locals for weather and local events.

Nothings is perfect but you can definitely tell when the program has the right priorities.

 

[JavierH19]

I don’t have cable so I could never watch either.

I prefer the local papers since they actually cover things I care about.

Anything that is strictly opinion and drama with a slant is no better than watching an episode of 48 hours on the latest murder or for that matter getting your news from Family Guy.

Oh yeah. I watch local tv news but I hardly care about country wide news unless its direct issues like economy which will eventually impact me. But the majority of news outlets are owned by an oligarchy of elites.