madmax7774 March 8, 2007 Share March 8, 2007 This is interesting... http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/07/business...nyt&emc=rss Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Larry-T March 9, 2007 Share March 9, 2007 This is interesting... http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/07/business...nyt&emc=rss It's not only interesting, but quite realistic. Algae is going to be one of the engines that drive the biotech revolution. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamesbuf March 9, 2007 Share March 9, 2007 Only if we can get our politicians out of the pockets of the oil companies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamal March 9, 2007 Share March 9, 2007 the problem is that the politicians havent just sold out to the oil companies. they also sold out to the corn lobby which is why we use ethanol which is corn based and not a sugar based fuel which burns cleaner and is cheaper. also if the algae thing works out as hobbiest we can set up algae tanks for harvest and make some money Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Larry-T March 9, 2007 Share March 9, 2007 the problem is that the politicians havent just sold out to the oil companies. they also sold out to the corn lobby which is why we use ethanol which is corn based and not a sugar based fuel which burns cleaner and is cheaper. also if the algae thing works out as hobbiest we can set up algae tanks for harvest and make some money I have seen reports of people using tubs to culture algae and then feeding the algae to Tilapia in a back yeard pond, which provided enough meat for a family of four for an entire year. During cold weather a group of young fish (these are easily bred, continually spawining mouthbrooders) were brought inside for the winter and used to start the cycle again when the warm weather returned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeltwayBandit March 12, 2007 Share March 12, 2007 "LiveFuels would have to use biotechnology to make stronger, fecund and more productive strains of algae to be superheated or pressurized into fuel." Wow that is scary. Can you imagine the damage that this could do to the natural ecosystem if this ever got out? We will have franken-algae decimating coral reefs and choking out the salt marshes. It could be an ecological disaster of unprecedented magnitudes. We have to stop reckless projects like this before they have a chance to destroy our fragile ecosystem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason the filter freak March 15, 2007 Share March 15, 2007 It's a great consideration, however I agree with BB. It's a dangerous game thats being played here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mutley29 March 16, 2007 Share March 16, 2007 Freaky I watched Soylent Green just yesterday. A future i'm not looking forward too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Larry-T March 16, 2007 Share March 16, 2007 "LiveFuels would have to use biotechnology to make stronger, fecund and more productive strains of algae to be superheated or pressurized into fuel." Wow that is scary. Can you imagine the damage that this could do to the natural ecosystem if this ever got out? We will have franken-algae decimating coral reefs and choking out the salt marshes. It could be an ecological disaster of unprecedented magnitudes. We have to stop reckless projects like this before they have a chance to destroy our fragile ecosystem. I don't think we need transgenic modification of existing algae to make it work. Use naturally prolific algae and then energy-efficient (bacterial/enzymatic digestion and fermentation) methods to make a usable fuel from the resulting scum. I have heard the arguments of the heat-processed versus bioprocessed methods and I don't think the heat processing method is the way to go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeltwayBandit March 16, 2007 Share March 16, 2007 I don't think we need transgenic modification of existing algae to make it work. Use naturally prolific algae and then energy-efficient (bacterial/enzymatic digestion and fermentation) methods to make a usable fuel from the resulting scum. I have heard the arguments of the heat-processed versus bioprocessed methods and I don't think the heat processing method is the way to go. I'm just going on what the article said. I have not researched this area at all, it just struck me as a bit troubling that it appears that they are trying to manufacture some 'super algae' in order to do this. Perhaps one soulution would be to further modify the algae such that if it ever was released into the wild it would die. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Larry-T March 18, 2007 Share March 18, 2007 I'm just going on what the article said. I have not researched this area at all, it just struck me as a bit troubling that it appears that they are trying to manufacture some 'super algae' in order to do this. Perhaps one soulution would be to further modify the algae such that if it ever was released into the wild it would die. I'm sure that they want to create the "perfect" algae stock, but I would rather see them use existing algae native to the locale in which the work is being done. Another possibility is to use a freshwater plant that will grow like crazy - thus removing carbon and other pollutants, and which also can extract heavy metals from the water which can be removed during processing. When I worked in a wastewater treatment lab in Chicago I read a lot about Water Hyacynth as a wonderful plant for water purification. A good fermentation system would give us fueld and clean water with virtually no additional cost. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeltwayBandit March 18, 2007 Share March 18, 2007 Eeek.. no water hyacinth... that stuff is like water kudzu. Nasty nasty stuff. http://plants.ifas.ufl.edu/hyacin2.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lanman March 24, 2007 Share March 24, 2007 Eeek.. no water hyacinth... that stuff is like water kudzu. Nasty nasty stuff. http://plants.ifas.ufl.edu/hyacin2.html Cold kills it, though... I put a few in my freshwater pond, and they grew nicely (and yes,they filter water like crazy) - but died as soon as cold weather came. So grow them in huge greenhouses up north - if they escape, they die. bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Larry-T March 24, 2007 Share March 24, 2007 Eeek.. no water hyacinth... that stuff is like water kudzu. Nasty nasty stuff. http://plants.ifas.ufl.edu/hyacin2.html It's not a problem this far North. As a matter of fact, it's commercially raised and sold as a pond plant in Maryland. There are state-by-state restrictions on where you can sell it, but it's a good summer plant in the North. When I lived in Chicago, some of the garden stores would maintain outdoor ponds with large goldfish and water hyacinth. They would sell the plants with visible goldfish eggs in the roots. The customer would take the plant home and put it in a new pond and within a few weeks they would have baby goldfish visible in their pond. By fall the fish were well over an inch long and ready to be taken inside for the winter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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