Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Ideally. But I bet there will be other major drawbacks that we will only start to notice when we have become dependent on algae. Initially we did not know of the problems associated with fossil fuels, either.
boy you sure are a buzz kill arent ya! LOL
of course there will be issues. but will those issue be greater than the existing issues? I dont think so.
regardless, this IMHO is where the energy econonomy is headed.
Spin it however you like. Green energy is a weight that is adding to a really bad situation.
Had Spain been prudent from the beginning, they would be better positioned to deal with the other larger issues.
the green sector has been a boondoggle and it has caused the Spanish people to become accustomed to a false paradigm of cheap renewable energy.
Reality is quite a bit different from that.
Again, the initial costs of solar power (technology as such as well as getting the broad movement going by subsidies) may be high. But they will pay off in the long run.
There are preparations for giant solar power plants in the Sahara that will dwarf all existing solar power plants...
yep. in non used waste land. and algae can produce as much as 10k gallons per acre per year. some say triple that amount. there is plenty of land availale that can be used that is not being used for growing trees or crops or animals.
I was reading around on this. This was an interesting site that posted disadvantages of it and uses sources of news, blogs, etc... (so I am not taking it as fact, but it does pose some interesting drawbacks).
You seem to be really up on it, are any of these reasonable objections concerning it? Are they working to find ways to make it practical and cost effective?
What about smell? There has been mass growth of algae at some coasts due to fertilizers in the water, and people say there is a foul smell where there are those algal blooms. What are those gases?
Perhaps it would be more effective if one realized that using a fossil fuel for energy (past input) is not as wise as using present energy, provided by our nearby fusion reactor (Sol).
Because once the fossil fuels are depleted, we can't wait 65 million years for a refill.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Neuling
That is not the solution if we continue to burn oil. For plastics production, OK, but if we burn oil thus produced, we still emit a lot of gases.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ferd
Actually oil from algae is a net positive on so called greenhouse gases.
the algae require CO2 from the atmosphere to grow and produce oil as a byproduct. the CO2 returned to the atmosphere from burning algae oil, is less than the CO2 used by the algae to grow. thus you have a net reduction in CO2 over all.
the by product (dead algae) contains a good amount of CO2 and that can be used as fertilizer which sequesters CO2 in the top soil.
it can also be used as a very good food source for farm animals, again, the net effect is sequestration of some amount of CO2 in the soil.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ferd
Oil from Algae is by far the best solution.
You can use waste water or salt water to grow the algae so you do not impact fresh water supplies.
You can use non-arable land so you do not impact food production the way other vegetation for Ethanol does (like corn that goes to produce gas instead of food). This also has a great impact on lowering food prices.
You do not add additional pollutants into the atmosphere as the algae are recycling.
You do not have to import the oil so you are not supporting violent terrorist supporting regimes
You do not have to make any changes to the existing infrastructure so there is no additional costs associated with build out of new delivery systems like you would have with electric or hydrogen cars etc.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Neuling
But where would you grow all that algae? To use it as a substitute for fossil oil, you would need huuuge quantities of it, probably grown in giant tanks and factories.
I see the problem that people would not change their behavior if they thought there was more or less endless energy.
good debate about algae. in the end however even algae will not be a complete replacement for crude oil, but rather one of many. as i have said before, and will continue to say, we will need EVERY source of energy if we are going to be energy independent in this country. even wind power will have its uses.
Quote:
Originally Posted by burdell
The horse used to be faster transportation than an automobile, should we have just stopped development of the auto since at the time it sucked by any objective standard?
good point, we can also make the point that early steam engines used to have problems with their boilers blowing up. should we have dropped development of the steam engine because of that?
early jet engines had their issues as well, short TBOs, and a decided lack of reliability. should they have been eliminated as well? and how about early rocket engines? early attempts at electricity generation?
my point is that all technologies have their drawbacks and teething problems before they become reliable and fully useful. technologies that show real promise need to be fully developed, and those that dont show real promise should be put on the back burner, so to speak, until such time as it can be proven that the technology really does have promise or not.
Its simply delusional to think that oil from algae will ever replace the flow or energy return rates that we get from conventional crude oil.
It is equally delusional to think we can continue to rely on crude oil as primary fuel source. The demand for it is increasing at the same time the supply for it is decreasing. Also all the "easy oil" in terms of sticking a drill bit in the ground and coming up with a gusher are just about gone. The largest most recent finds have all been deep water finds that require far more expensive technology to get to and as we've learned in the Gulf of Mexico they are far more environmentally risky.
The second factor is that all long as we depend on fossil fuels we will never be energy independent.
It is equally delusional to think we can continue to rely on crude oil as primary fuel source. The demand for it is increasing at the same time the supply for it is decreasing. Also all the "easy oil" in terms of sticking a drill bit in the ground and coming up with a gusher are just about gone. The largest most recent finds have all been deep water finds that require far more expensive technology to get to and as we've learned in the Gulf of Mexico they are far more environmentally risky.
The second factor is that all long as we depend on fossil fuels we will never be energy independent.
I agree entirely- conventional crude oil production is going into decline in the next few years, my point is that algae is no substitute for it. At present there isn't one.
Btw- how times have changed, most people on this forum thought I was some mad man for mentioning peak oil 3 years ago when I joined.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
There has been mass growth of algae at some coasts due to fertilizers in the water, and people say there is a foul smell where there are those algal blooms. What are those gases?
