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First Algae Car Attempts To Cross the US On 25 Gallons of Fuel

Posted by Soulskill on from the your-dirty-pool-is-now-your-greatest-treasure dept.

Mike writes "San Francisco recently saw the unveiling of the world's first algae fuel-powered vehicle, dubbed the Algaeus. The plug-in hybrid car, which is a Prius tricked out with a nickel metal hydride battery and a plug, runs on green crude from Sapphire Energy — no modifications to the gasoline engine necessary. The set-up is so effective, according to FUEL producer Rebecca Harrell, that the Algaeus can cross the US on approximately 25 gallons of fuel — a figure which is currently being tested on a coast-to-coast road trip."

18 of 188 comments (clear)

  1. Fuel + Electric by Anonymous+Cowar · · Score: 4, Insightful

    When they factor in or go without the gallons of oil, pounds of coal, cubic feet of natural gas, amount of uranium or other fissile fuel, wind turbine hours, and other electric generation measures, then I'll get excited. Until then the 25 gallons is a bit misleading, sort of like the volt's 240mpg. Either that or I'll forgo the above if you give me a dollar amount in electricity donated, borrowed, bought, or rented along the way.

    1. Re:Fuel + Electric by Ironsides · · Score: 4, Insightful
      I'd also add what their average speed is as well. You can get much better fuel economy in a prius if you only drive 25 mph than if you drive 65 mph due to the electric motor on board. Although, this is going to be the killer to their statement

      And while the Algaeus only runs on a 5% blend of algae fuel

      --
      Fly me to the moon Let me sing among those stars Let me see what spring is like On jupiter and mars
    2. Re:Fuel + Electric by ZigiSamblak · · Score: 5, Informative

      The thing to get excited about here is not the efficiency of the fuel but that this is supposedly a "cradle to cradle" solution. By producing this fuel you are not taking away farmland to decrease possible food production but you are taking the CO2 out of the air to produce the fuel.

      http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/02/us/02algae.html?_r=2&oref=slogin

      An algae farm could be located almost anywhere. It would not require converting cropland from food production to energy production. It could use sea water and could consume pollutants from sewage and power plants.

    3. Re:Fuel + Electric by symbolset · · Score: 5, Interesting

      An algae farm could be located almost anywhere. It would not require converting cropland from food production to energy production. It could use sea water and could consume pollutants from sewage and power plants.

      Has anybody suggested a nice oceanfront inland area with lots of rail and marine transport? One with storage and refinery capabilities? One that's already below sea level? Because I think there's a likely spot in Louisiana.

      --
      Help stamp out iliturcy.
    4. Re:Fuel + Electric by C0deM0nkey · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I think the thing to get excited about here is that this solution...along with any electric car in general...is a step towards reducing and eliminating fossil fuels. Consider it a step towards consolidating our use of fossil fuels into specific distribution points on the electric grid. Say that it encourages the replacement of gasoline fueling stations with electric fueling stations. Say that it inspires advances in quick-charging battery cells for electric cars.

      What do we have then? We've still got fossil fuels being burned at key points on the electric grid *and* the emissions from those locations is very significant. But we've also gained better battery technology and fewer gas stations and (here's the big one) we are poised to replace those electrical nodes with cleaner alternatives.

      Part of the struggle moving from one technology to the next involves infrastructure replacement and consolidation of old resources. The Algaeus is just a tree in the overall forest. See the forest and then the Algaeus becomes pretty cool -- because it means we are trying *something* to move away from fossil fuels in our primary mode of transportation (at least in the US).

    5. Re:Fuel + Electric by commodore64_love · · Score: 4, Informative

      Then they should focus on the "it's electric!" sales pitch, rather than spread lies about getting 100 MPG and ignoring the costs at the user's electric meter. This is the same crap Chevy does with its Volt, claiming you get 60 MPG and "save money" but they never bother to mention the $50/month increase for charging the Volt's battery. Such false advertising should be illegal.

      --
      "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
    6. Re:Fuel + Electric by commodore64_love · · Score: 4, Informative

      >>>Yes and no. If a Chevy Volt costs 60 mpg + $50/mo to travel 1200 mi/mo, that's $100 at $2.50/gal....
      >>>

      Yes and another hybrid like the Prius (approximately same size/shape) will only cost $66 each month. So even though the Prius appears to be a less-efficient 45MPG car versus the Chevy Volt's advertised 60MPG, in reality the Prius will be cheaper to operate for the customer.

      Heck even a non-hybrid 38MPG Civic is cheaper to operate ($78). This is why I think this Chevy Volt false-advertising needs to be stopped. It's misleading to the consumer to say "it gets 60MPG" while never mentioning the additional impact on their electricity bills.

      --
      "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
  2. 5% blend of algae fuel only... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    ...if you rtfa..., guess a full algae-driven car isn't feasible yet.

    1. Re:5% blend of algae fuel only... by OnlyPostsWhilstDrunk · · Score: 4, Informative

      Sure it is. Of course you'll have something the equivalent of diesel when you're done, not 87 octane gasoline. We can convert any plant matter into diesel pretty easily (just not on the large scale yet)

      --
      Sig: I don't spell check and this is legit. This was written while I was drunk, and quite possibly with m eyes closed, b
    2. Re:5% blend of algae fuel only... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Diesel engines were DESIGNED to run on plant matter...
      Peanut oil, to be precise.
      And the inventor was murdered while crossing from France to the U.K...
      So that the oil industry could use their dirty by product from petrol production, and re-name it 'diesel'. What we call 'diesel' nowadays is nothing of the sort.

      "In the evening of 29 September 1913, Diesel boarded the post office steamer Dresden in Antwerp on his way to a meeting of the Consolidated Diesel Manufacturing company in London. He took dinner on board the ship and then retired to his cabin at about 10 p.m., leaving word for him to be called the next morning at 6:15 a.m. He was never seen alive again. Ten days later, the crew of the Dutch boat "Coertsen" came upon the corpse of a man floating in the sea. The body was in such an advanced state of decomposition that they did not bring it aboard. Instead, the crew retrieved personal items (pill case, wallet, pocket knife, eyeglass case) from the clothing of the dead man, and returned the body to the sea. On the 13th of October these items were identified by Rudolf's son, Eugen Diesel, as belonging to his father.
      No one knows for sure how or why Diesel was lost overboard. Grosser (1978)[5] presents a credible case for suicide. There are conspiracy theories that suggest that various people's business interests may have provided motives for homicide. Evidence is limited for all explanations."

  3. 5% Algae? by Nemyst · · Score: 4, Insightful

    TFA says the car is running on a 5% mix Algae, with the rest being gasoline. What exactly does this prove, apart from being a marketing stunt?

    If anyone has better knowledge on what just 5% of this fuel can change to the overall MPG rating, I'd be glad to hear about it, but call me sceptical about the whole claim.

    1. Re:5% Algae? by ErikTheRed · · Score: 5, Informative

      TFA says the car is running on a 5% mix Algae, with the rest being gasoline. What exactly does this prove, apart from being a marketing stunt?

      Easy answer - it's just a marketing stunt. As mentioned above, they don't include the oil / coal / etc. used to produce the electricity that will provide, oh, say, 99.9% of the motive power. And since of the .1% (and that's probably an over-estimate) of energy used to move the car that's in the form of liquid fuel only 5% is algae... the real questions are: 1) so what? and 2) who cares? If this stuff is so great, why can't you use it exclusively to go across the country? Or at least provide 50% of the energy?

        Even as marketing stunts go, this just completely sucks ass.

      --

      Help save the critically endangered Blue Iguana
    2. Re:5% Algae? by Bill,+Shooter+of+Bul · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I'm really confused why they wouldn't use 100% Algae. Cost isn't an issue for a proof of concept, and its supposed to be a drop in replacement of gas. It should give similar MPG as regular gasoline, unlike ethanol that has a lower energy density.

      --
      Well.. maybe. Or Maybe not. But Definitely not sort of.
  4. Well, my Honda can cross the US on TWO gallons... by jeffb+(2.718) · · Score: 4, Insightful

    ...of whale oil, since it's actually using gasoline, not whale oil, as its fuel. But, hey, whale oil is fuel, and I don't need more than two gallons of it, so my claim is exactly as well-founded as theirs.

    Plug-in hybrids are a great idea. But stop already with the stupid and misleading claims about "gas mileage" based on getting most of your energy from the grid.

  5. MPG debate by jklovanc · · Score: 5, Informative

    Back to the MPG debate when dealing with electric/hybrid vehicles. Any time one take electricity from the grid, which this car does through the plug, that energy is not counted in the MPG. This makes MPG rating suspect at best. It also merely shifts the carbon load to the electricity plants rather then the vehicle causing the carbon footprint to be distorted.

  6. Nope, that's not how it works. by Weaselmancer · · Score: 5, Informative

    Most folks would take a highway, where the electric motor and battery do not get used at all-- they're just useless weight.

    Not how it works at all. The electric motor in my Prius works at all speeds. It contributes to the drive chain when it makes sense to do so regardless of the speed. If I take my foot off the gas at 65mph the car coasts and the motor runs in reverse as a generator and charges the batteries. If I lightly rest my foot on the gas the gasoline motor stays off and the electric has enough torque to maintain speed. Until I hit an incline or need to accelerate, then the gas will pop on. Under most conditions if you watch the Energy display screen, you can see both the gas motor and the electric drive contributing at the same time.

    The whole system is pretty dynamic. It's not like there is a kill switch on the motors at 30mph.

    --
    Weaselmancer
    rediculous.
  7. Fuel + Electric+ *CAPITAL* by Simonetta · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Everyone with all these wonderful plans to get the "Happy Motoring" era happy again with 100+ MPG vehicles is conveniently forgetting that it will take a HUGE amount of money to convert the VAST fleet of current BFACs (big f'ing American cars) to anything resembling a 100+ MPG fleet of vehicles.

        This is money that we don't have. We have (you may recall) pissed away 3 trillion dollars on the PEW (permanent endles worthless war) so far and it's still at PEW status. We have bankrupted the middle-class on a bogus housing bubble to the point where half the houses built and sold in the past ten years are 'underwater'. We have maxed out our credit cards and destroyed the major banks to the point where they required two seperate 760 billion dollar 'bailouts' in a single year. We have no realistic health care system at a point where a 100 million people born between 1945 and 1970 are nearing retirement. Our totally corporately-owned corrupt government runs up a trillion dollars of deficit every fucking year. And the rest of the world is talking behind our backs about not continuing to buy our Ponzi Federal Reserve bonds.

        Not only are we out of money, we are out of money with 100 million stupid and obese self-entitled citizens. And all this is happening when we face Peak Oil and global warming environmental transformation. And when the number of $1 a day people in the 'never-to-be-developing' world are increasing their population from 4 to 8 billion in 30 years.

        There isn't going to be any great new 'Apollo' or 'Manhattan' project to deal with these problems. No one seems to realize this, ESPECIALLY here at Slashdot, but there is no more fucking money . Over the next ten years, critical systems for economic growth are continute to shut down, one by one. It's not going to be easy, or pretty, or fair. And as a member of the technological elite, it's going to really piss you off because you know that we could be doing so much, if only...

        Start thinking like this and stop thinking about giant government projects and Mars Landing and all that other 20th century fantasy and you will be around to play with your grandchildren. And please don't mod me down to -1 because my rational discussions bum you out. If I bother you, reply here as to exactly why I'm wrong. Believe me, I do want to be wrong about all this. But I have this bad feeling...

  8. Re:5% is nothing. by WiiVault · · Score: 4, Funny

    Ok fair, you called me on it. Excuse this being a quick synopsis. Essentially I was in a situation where the car me and my friends were driving was close to reaching the point where the car inevitable "ran out" of gas. Sadly this was thanks to a poor design in the tank of this '76 Chevy beast. Actually there was almost 3/4ths of a gallon left but in the lower corner. We had in the past, as poor rednecks been in the same situation- every time we had turned to beer or liquor. Too bad us 17 year old dumb asses didn't have the assets this day. As such it became a straw pull and I got selected to be the "New Jersey Pumper"(I remind some folks that having someone pump your gas is bizarre to many of us). The car survived to the pump thankfully, though it was certainly one of the killers of that car. However, one good thing is that I have learned a lot about how to treat teens. Man I was a dumb ass back then.