Growing the next 'green' fuel
August 12, 2009 | Length: 00:01:34
Will algae fuel the car of tomorrow? Harrison Dillon, CTO of Solazyme is growing strains of algae to produce various kinds of renewable oils. He hopes that over the next few years, people will start consuming algae derived products like gasoline, household cleaners, and makeup without ever realizing it.
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RE: Growing the next 'green' fuel
RE: Growing the next 'green' fuel
such as sugar cane and cellulose and "feeding it" to the algae to create
crude oil.
Lynn
RE: Growing the next 'green' fuel
SAME REPLY AS IN TURNING THE NASA WAY
This is what I have been talking about. Some of these scientists have good ideas and intentions, but let's get real.
Why do we need some special manufactered plastic container?
What about using re-cycled plastics, and even what about harvesting algae that already exists, tons and tons upon tons, in our lakes and oceans.
I hate the phase "of course this would take some time".
Algae actually grows very fast, and replenishes itself even faster from harvested areas. If algae is already dense then the sunlight that it takes to make it grow faster, does not get to the base of the plant, just like a tree deep in a dense forest that gets no sun.
And excuse me Mr. scientist, but could you not make MUCH more methanol from algae than oil?
Is not methanol a cleaner, and modern fuel?
C'mon America!
RE: Growing the next 'green' fuel
But the petromafias would have none of it. Any and all attempts to dilute their stranglehold on global power, with alternative energy source, will not see the light of day.
Fabulous wealth will win out everytime. First order of the day, destroy the oil cartels. Only we, the consumers, have the might to do that.
RE: Growing the next 'green' fuel
The whole point of having all of these crises (economic, environmental, social, political) is a wake up call. We cannot continue to do business the old way; we cannot continue to have 1% of the population own 50% of the wealth created by multinationals.
There is a safer, better way to do business and to live sustainably. Bio-Lipidos de Puerto Rico is an algae aquaculture business that is certified organic, needs no external feed for the algae, and produces, as a by-product, organic Tilapia and Shrimp. Oh! and it consumes the nearby industrial production of CO2 as well. Google Replenish Energy, find out! (their website is just coming online, so be patient if it is not fully functioning yet!
Monica
Communications Director
Bio Lipidos de Puerto Rico
RE: Growing the next 'green' fuel
when they have been raised on the industrial waste of the nearby
rum distillery. Though that business provides yours with organic
material, those materials are not certified organic feed for your
fish and shrimp. Those materials also have a history of
considerable toxicity, and no matter how much that waste matter
is cleaned up so that it may be fed, I wouldn't put any animal on
my platter that had been raised like that. Raising Talapia and
shrimp are also notoriously dirty industries. How is your company
dealing with the wastes created by them? Also, not every location
is so fortunate to have access to organic matter so close by. Plus
the open pond system is not sustainable in areas where
evaporation is a major concern because water is scarce. Never
mind vast stretches of land, or daylight with a high number of
sunshine hours, and adequate temperatures of course. So no, I
would say your model cannot be replicated throughout the world.
For your location it seems ideal though. Why you would raise fish
and shrimp that feed on the algae that you are producing for fuel
is a bit puzzling though.
I wonder why the approach of both of these companies must
include organic matter when algae grow so well with sunlight and
warmth. To produce one fuel (with fuel to grow, harvest and
transport that fuel/food) to fuel another fuel seems
counterproductive. Technology is already in place that maximizes
sun exposure without requiring additional fuel sources, and also
limit water needs by using fully enclosed systems. The positive
aspect of switching to algae was that step away from fuels
sourced from food crops. Using wastes from food production is an
interesting approach, but there are plenty of other uses for it,
plus when the bottom line counts, even food waste may not make
the cut.
Perhaps Solazyme might also want to respond to inquiries that
expressed interested in their products for industrial application.
Unfortunately repeated email and phone messages last year
have remained unanswered...
Transcript
MUSIC
>> My name is Harrison Dillon. I'm the president and chief technology officer and co-founder of Solazyme, and what I do is make renewable oil production technology a reality. music I got interested in algae because algae is the most efficient organism in the world at making oil renewably. And you can manipulate that production process to make it even more efficient using biotechnology. This process works by taking renewable resources -- biomass like sugarcane and cellulose -- and feeding it to algae in a way where the algae convert that biomass directly into crude oil. If you think about everything in your house that's made out of oil, it's not just the gas in your car, it's the, the cleaning supplies under the sink, cosmetic ingredients, polyester, lubricants, the oil in your car, those things are all made from, from fossil oil, and we can do it renewably using this technology. This will have a major impact on where we get crude oil and, and the, the carbon footprint of the crude oil that we use as a raw material to make all of these products that you use in everyday life. It's really surprised me how fast the technology has come along.
MUSIC
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