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.
I'm not laughing at the idea, but let's say that we do invest heavily in this, and it really takes off. I'm pretty sure that this company has patents on the processes they use to make this "green crude". So every company that wants to use this technology to manufacture it is going to have to pay a royalty to Sapphire. In ten years, Sapphire becomes the next ExxonMobil, and guess what - the same people who rail against EM today for their "obscene" profits will be going after Sapphire. Oh, the irony!
Stop big algae's profiteering at the expense of our country!
Idunno, it just doesn't have the right sound to it. But I think the technology is a cool idea. There's another company in Colorado doing the same thing, unless what I read about is actually this company.
Wind power "farms" have proven themselves to provide power to a wide area - such as Palm Springs, California.
Arizona Public Service and the Salt River Project are JV'ing a Solar Project outside of Phoenix that is expected to provide the power for over 40,000 homes.
The technologies are here - they are good and they are powerful -
Wind is too variable to rely on as a major source unless you can store its power, or take advantage of the peaks and valleys. This article talks about the problems with wind and some storage techniques. But the problem with storing energy all comes down to the efficiency... it's much more cost effective to develop a system which is completely interactive.
The problem with nuclear is that it's really an unstable form of energy (that should something go wrong.. it's BAD). .and no one wants that in thier neighborhood!
Put it in mine. At least I'd have fewer brown outs!
Quote:
We are still of the generations that know of , heard of or remember Chernobyl!!
I remember it well. The US is not Ukraine, and safety technology has advanced quite a bit in the last three decades.
There is no perfect solution. We're a very energy hungry nation, and our need for electricity is going to grow at a very fast pace, particularly if plug-in cars start to take off. Nuclear is the only viable solution. We should use whatever "green" options wherever they make sense, but wind, solar, tidal, etc. aren't going to be able to provide all of the energy we need.
There is no reward without risk. I'm willing to take the risk with nuclear in order to get the reward of being able to maintain our current standard of living, plus continue progressing in areas such as electric cars.
but if I some day end up buying the house Im renting the property is big enough.. I'll have one built to power my home.. (can you do that) and convert my house to solar energy to heat and cool it!
Our home is completely solar powered. We are not hooked up to any outside energy source whatsoever.
Our solar system provides all the power necessary for our 4000sq foot home plus the guest quarters including the Air Conditioning system - which in a 115 degree enviornment is a feat in itself. It takes care of the pool, the water well pump, the outside lighting and so on.
I support the expansion of Nuclear Power plants - however, nuclear energy will not help with the rising need for fuels for combustible engines - cars, trucks and machinery.
Our energy independence needs to incorporate a variety of technology - including the one TM brought to us. Solar, Wind, Nuclear, Bio, and yes - increased drilling for oil on, and off, our own shores.
The problem with nuclear is that it's really an unstable form of energy (that should something go wrong.. it's BAD). .and no one wants that in thier neighborhood!
We are still of the generations that know of , heard of or remember Chernobyl!!
Whereas something like using algea is environmentally friendly, non toxic etc.
wind is too!!! Wouldn't mine owne of those do dads in my neighborhood..
But I certainly wuold not want to live too near a nuclear energy plant!
I understand where you're coming from, but I think we also need to consider that Chernobyl was over 20 years ago. Technology has advanced and there is a lot of nuclear energy being used without incident.
Well.. first, if you bothered to read the website I provided a link to it wasn't talking about electricity It's a fuel alternative..
So..right there, that should answer your question!
"the end result — high-value hydrocarbons chemically identical to those in gasoline"
Um, the chemical formula for gasoline is C8H18.
The chemical formula for triethylolamine is (HOCH2CH2)3N.
Unless you want to go back to the 1960s and start using powdered laundry detergent, you're going to need to import "foreign oil" because god played a cruel joke and put the light crude oils with specific gravities of 34 to 38 in the Middle East and Central Asia, and all the heavy crude oils with specific gravities of 12 to 28 here in the Americas.
About 12 Million Americans would get really upset if they lost their jobs because you hacked off foreign oil imports.
A follow-on, and a post I made to another website:
Quote:
I was reading a website about solar energy a little while ago, and the author said, well here tis:
Quote: At present photoelectric conversion efficiency and under typical seasonal cycles and weather, a solar panel one square meter in area produces about .5 kilowatt-hours of energy per day. Since a barrel of oil contains 1700 kilowatt-hours of energy, it would take 3400 square meters of solar panels to produce the equivalent energy of a barrel of oil per day. The equivalent energy of projected world oil consumption in the year 2030 – 120 million barrels per day – could therefore be met by 400,000 square kilometers of solar panels (=120 million barrels x 3400 sq. meters/barrel). That's only 0.3% of the world's land area!
So I got to wondering how many square miles this called for, this 400K square kilos. As I am far, far away from being a math whiz, I hunted around for a quick solution and came up with this site: Length Equivalent Converter Calculator
So the conversion of 400K square kilos comes out to 248,560 square miles, I think. Well, maybe not, going back to look at it, as the conversion site doesn't do "square" anything. But would the same computation equate? An inquiring, non-math mind wants to know. Teacher, teacher, anyone?
No, wait, I found another conversion site, that sez 400K square kilos = 154440.86342 square miles. Here's that site, too: Measurecalc - Area Units Conversion
So, how large an area is that? Well, from yet another website, http://www.wisegeek.com/how-big-are-the-states-in-america.htm, (broken link) Montana checks in with 147,046 square miles, and California has 163,707 square miles. Can you imagine that many solar panels covering that amount of area for that little energy? Wow!
Hey, an idea! Let's run a cord to the moon, set up all the solar panels one could wish for!
And, say, Greatday, could you give me (us) some more info on your setup? I find this extremely interesting!
"the end result — high-value hydrocarbons chemically identical to those in gasoline"
Um, the chemical formula for gasoline is C8H18.
The chemical formula for triethylolamine is (HOCH2CH2)3N.
Unless you want to go back to the 1960s and start using powdered laundry detergent, you're going to need to import "foreign oil" because god played a cruel joke and put the light crude oils with specific gravities of 34 to 38 in the Middle East and Central Asia, and all the heavy crude oils with specific gravities of 12 to 28 here in the Americas.
About 12 Million Americans would get really upset if they lost their jobs because you hacked off foreign oil imports.
We may still need it.. but we can certain cut our dependency on it!!! THAT is the point.. lower the demand so that we are not held hostage by the crazy middle eastern oil czars!!!
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.
It's a fuel alternative.. 
