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Renewable Energy From Algae?
Ravalox writes "With alternate fuel becoming a fairly hot trend in recent months, some academics may have applied their theoretical know-how to give us a practical solution. They offer up the idea that certain types of algae are well-suited to biodiesel production as they are nearly 50 percent oil. The article speculates that large pools could be created to farm out biodiesel from algae in areas near waste streams and salt water. They postulate that to replace our fossil fuel usage it would take only a total of a little over ten thousand square miles, which could fit in an area like the Sonora Desert."
Algae Rawks!! :D
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If it requires a 100mix100mi chunk o' land to produce it cheaply (which I doubt, given the extreme untapped potential of TDP plants), then there is no way it will ever fly without first convincing the public. It's somewhat like a chicken-and-egg problem. Let's say that to make cheap biodiesel, you need to use a 100x100 chunk of land. But to justify the 100x100 chunk of land to the Sheeple, you'd have to already be producing the cheap biodiesel, so you could say "See? Cheap fuel. Now, isn't it worth it to devote 10,000 mi^2 of desert to this process?" The public will likely not believe anything until they can already go to the neighbourhood Chevron and buy the cheap new renewable fuel, which makes it a circular problem.
Clearly, the first step towards a shift away from the current status quo (i.e. the US being reliant on Arab and other foreign oil, being pulled from a shrinking supply which will run out) has to be either to (A) somehow convince the public that the sacrifices involved (and there will be sacrifices, or at least annoyances-- and some very rich, very white, very conservative people stand to lose substantial chunks of their fortunes and will fight any change tooth and nail), or (B) to simply mandate it by government order, and hope the public (and/or the corps) don't revolt.
And, needless to say, any of this sort of stuff is highly unlikely to happen under the leadership of Shrub & Co, what with their ties to big oil...
Honey, I shrunk the Cygwin
A great reference to what is probably the Worst. Movie. Ever.
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