Algae, as Jones mentioned before, holds the #2 spot on potential for
alternate fuels. Many newsmakers are
hyping "ET" ( energy technology as the next investment oportunity) after the
IT era. However, our local push to get something moving on co-operative
research programs for algae has sorta dropped off the edge of the pond.
There is a silence out there...
Yep! it's quiet out there..Too quiet.
Some large players are at work. One that interests me is the Australian
research group
CSIRO, The Australian Research Consortium is gaining speed.
http://www.csiro.au/news/UltraBattery.html
Richard
Michael wrote,
You may be right, but isn't the Valcent-Vertigro (American) company fairly
advanced in this field? I really don't see why more attention isn't being
paid to this technology. Seems like a winner to me.
Jones wrote,
Yes - as a matter of fact, the "lack of attention" which does appear to be
strange, given the advantages -- this could be a deliberate strategy - since
there are many companies: possibly the biggest players of all, who have NOT
come out publicly with very much info (in recent years) on what they are
actually doing now, or in the case of Shell - they have only exposed the tip
of the iceberg (not a great analogy for a project in Hawaii).
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/11db0836-82d2-11dd-a019-000077b07658.html
Because of this hidden undercurrent of "under-published" efforts and R&D -
which is likely to be out there, since there was lots more of it 5-8 years
ago which seemed to disappear (but did it?) ... the algoil thing is poised
to actually explode on the alternative energy scene... and possibly with
special relevance to operators of coal-burning grid plants who are located
next to the strip mines which supply the coal.
Since these plants are already in the "earth-moving business" in a huge
way - how costly is it for them to construct very cheap algae ponds in the
former strip-mine site and then channel the CO2 over from the plant -- to
feed the algae and increase the growth rate? That goes beyond win-win -
heck it goes all the way to win-win-win-win when you consider the net effect
of converting cheap but dirty coal into power, selling the power, then
cleaning the operation up via the algae, instead of costly bag-houses, and
then selling the oil and protein derived from the algae for much more than
the coal cost to begin with, and all the while doing most of the work
yourself, with paid-for equipment already on-site.
Is there a greater opportunity available in the entire free-enterprise
system? There are possibly 200 such plants in the USA above 500 megawatt
capacity adjacent to strip mines or at least ample flat terrain.
This is a gross simplification of a complex process, sure - but one can
reasonably expect that once a "tipping point" in the technology-base has
been reached for grid plants to do this with the normal ROI - then it will
be a major societal shifting of assets - literally a paradigm-shift which
could happen much more swiftly than DoE and assorted pundits suspect it
will.
Jones
