Algae based biodiesel: another milestone

Using saltwater! This, we have a lot of!

http://www.biodieselmagazine.com/ar...-launched-at-worlds-largest-refinery-in-india

Would love to see it work out.

Every credible study I've seen so far shows Algae based biodiesel as being uneconomic.

It gets to be expensive to produce due to the complexity - lots of labor, capital, and maintenance expense.

The complexity, if I remember, is fundamentally due to having to control the type of algae - gets difficult and expensive to ensure the algaes you want, grow, and those you don't want, don't grow.

puntmeister said:

It gets to be expensive to produce due to the complexity - lots of labor, capital, and maintenance expense.

Click to expand...

Same words uttered early on when the automobile came to the scene dominated by the horse and carriage; the internal combustion engine to the scene dominated by steam power; or when petroleum came to the scene dominated by coal.

As long as oil is cheaper than alternative fuels, I don't see any of them catching on with widespread use, except as an addition to D2.

As lightflyer points out, the issue isn't alternative fuels in a box - they have to compete with oil - and with each other.

For now, most arable-land crop based biodiesels are significantly cheaper than algae based biodiesel. In fact, algae based biodiesel is the most expensive biodiesel.

The ICE is fairly complicated, and expensive, to build. Its just the least bad of a bunch of lousy options. For now. Fairly inevitable that electric cars eventually win out - buts that's another discussion.

Fuel is a commodity - whatever is cheapest wins.

Like I said - I hope it works out. I once was a big proponent of algae based biodiesel. Then I researched it. From what I found, after digging into the details, its gonna be tough to make it work.

Growing oily algae using seawater is an impressive advancement - nothing used that isn't already somewhat useless, and pulling fresh CO2 out of the atmosphere, rather than adding ancient CO2 back into the atmosphere from oil consumption. Awesome!

The benefit here: If you are running an engine powered by "recent" CO2 that returns the same (or less) CO2 back into the atmosphere right away... Who needs EGR then? Happy enthusiasts, and better economy which means even less need to cycle that CO2. Gotta love it.

Conservation of energy suggests that if (example) 100 units of CO2 were removed by the algae growing... Some will remain with the plant matter upon processing (so "captured" from the air) and perhaps 90 units might be available to return to the air after combustion. Eventually... The air starts getting cleaner overall, good for the planet.

It is impressive that they can get things like this to work. But if the cost to do so is skyrocket high, whats the point? The technology for things like this will just languish until it is cost effective (vs everything else) or needed later. Joule Unlimited has been trying and making strides too with a cost at about today's prices for oil (claimed). They have a pilot plant in Hobbs, NM. now that is currently expanding IIRC. They also pull CO2 in from waste streams and use non-potable/brackish water in a closed loop process.

http://www.jouleunlimited.com/

I got interested in them as they had a tiny pilot plant here near my home. I used to drive by and have a look at it every now and then. Maybe someday we will see something like these technologies make it to market. I am starting to think it won't happen in my lifetime.

Geordi, the EGR is to make for less O2 in the intake air. Less O2 remaining from the 'lean' diesel air/fuel mix combustion means less to combine with the N2 under heat and pressure to form oxides of nitrogen compounds.
EGR is incapable of adjusting the CO2 percentage in the exhaust.

The CO2 is converted by the plant growth into C, the O2 is released by transpiration. There is little to no CO2 in the plant matter remaining after processing into biofuel. That C rots and decays, literally oxidizes and recombines with O2 from the air. This decomposing creates CO2. The 100 units are maintained from 90 (unrealistically high) fuel combustion and 10 (unrealistically low) from residual plant matter.
Then there is the processing, transportation, and other energy losses (and carbon footprint contributions) to wind up in the end with 120+ units emitted in the "well-to-wheels" tally.