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    <title><![CDATA[Discussion on Sapphire's algae-to-oil farm begins to take shape ]]></title>
    <link><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-11523]]></link>
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    <lastBuildDate>2013-05-20T23:33:59-07:00</lastBuildDate>
             

    <item>
        <title><![CDATA[algae oil causing pollution]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-11523-100558]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[I'm participating in a debate, and i need to find out if this algae oil causes the same amount of pollution as normal oil or even more, can someone help?]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-11523-100558]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[connor am]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Mon, 20 May 2013 00:48:35 -0700</pubDate>
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    <item>
        <title><![CDATA[Better algae strains]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-11523-79099]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[One way besides improving farming methods will be to find out which are the better strains of algae taht can produce the most amount of lipids per cell and the fgrowth phase with which to harvest them in. Some might produce more lipid initially while others might produce the lipids when the algal cells are much older]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-11523-79099]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[Wilson Yeo]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Tue, 18 Sep 2012 15:35:15 -0700</pubDate>
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    <item>
        <title><![CDATA[Vertical Reactor Algae Farming vs pond farming]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-11523-78677]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[In a pond setting, even with constant stirring sunlight is able to penetrate only a couple of inches deep.  Valcent, now known as Alterrus had developed a vertical farming capability back in 2009 that they claimed would produce 100K gallons per acre per year by pumping the media through hanging plastic that exposed all the growth media to sunlight.  That would cut the acerage required to produce the same volume of fuel by a factor of 20 over the projections for pond farming.  They nearly went bust when the market tanked and they were overlooked as a target for investment by those directing the spending related to the economic stimulus. Since that time their focus has been in producing vegetable crops near or within metropolitan areas to reduce the shipping expense and cut the carbon footprint of growing and transporting crops.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-11523-78677]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[dnbuggs]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Wed, 12 Sep 2012 14:40:02 -0700</pubDate>
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    <item>
        <title><![CDATA[Long term potential?]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-11523-77285]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[Lets run some numbers: Sapphire's goal equals 5000 gallons per acre per year. Ignoring land for processing facilities and energy used up in processing, you could supply 10% of our current motor fuel needs on 3.36 million acres, an area of 5250 square miles or 4.3% of the land area of New Mexico. If we can double the fuel efficiency over 20 years or so and use 10% of New Mexico's area we'd end up with enough fuel to meet 46% of our needs. (These are just the numbers for highway traffic, ships and planes aren't included.)  You might be able to run the entire mega-complex with the energy output from one of the new 3rd generation nuclear plants like GE's AP-1000. Sticker price $6-8 billion. Technically it looks feasible, the question would come down to cost and politics and the logistics of creating such a vast infrastructure. Of course we could just electrify highway transportation with battery powered vehicles fed from buried cables under the highways. This would need a whole fleet of AP 1000 units! Then we could use the algae fuel for shipping and aircraft, two areas it is impractical to electrify. And electric propulsion starts with a big efficiency advantage compared to liquid fuels since the best modern engines can only utilize about 30% of the energy content of their fuels compared to up to 60% efficiency for the best combined-cycle natural gas power plants. Allow 6-7% transmission losses and about 97% efficiency of electric motors in vehicles and it's still clearly a better use of resources.  For now &quot;all of the above&quot; seems like the best strategy.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-11523-77285]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[John Hartshorn]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Fri, 31 Aug 2012 12:05:19 -0700</pubDate>
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    <item>
        <title><![CDATA[Cost at the pump?]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-11523-77213]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[There's a biodiesel coop near me that sells their product for slightly more than the market rate of dino-diesel. http://www.biofuels.coop/the-price-of-fuelWhat does Sapphire sell for? I can't find that data. None of these investment reports matter much if normal people aren't able to choose the better option. Hopefully it won't be a solar panel boondoggle where the chinese eat our lunch because they have a slightly subpar product for drastically lower cost.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-11523-77213]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[hemophilic]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Fri, 31 Aug 2012 07:36:04 -0700</pubDate>
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