“It’s hard not to get excited about algae’s potential,” said Paul Dickerson, the chief operating officer of the Energy Department’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy in the Bush administration. Algae cells have tremendous power and nutrients that can be turned into biofuel, ethanol, food, chemicals, and methane; and as they grow, algae can clean up the air and water. Here are six reasons why pond scum is a top contender for “the biofuel that saved the planet” award.
Algae Can Meet Demand without Hogging Land
Scientists estimate that algae could supply enough biodiesel fuel to meet all of the United States’ transportation needs, using less than one percent of the nation’s land. In fact, they claim that to get the job done would require only 15,000 square miles or four and one-half million acres of land. That’s slightly larger than the state of Maryland, the country’s eighth smallest state. Other biodiesel possibilities like soy need astronomical amounts of land.. (“Cultivating Algae for Liquid Fuel Production,” Thomas F. Riesing, Ph.D., Permaculture Activist, #59, 2006)
Algae Grows Quickly
Unlike petroleum, which is a result of millions of years of biomass buildup under tremendous heat and pressure, algae can be grown quickly, doubling or tripling in size within 24 hours.
According to Milt Sommerfeld, who has been studying algae for 30 years at the Laboratory for Algae Research & Biotechnology (LARB) at Arizona State University’s Polytechnic Campus, “What makes algae interesting is that every cell is photosynthetic. Algae are more productive than corn or soybeans because every cell is a factory.” ("Fuels of Green," Diane Boudreau, 2007)
Algae Doesn't Diminish Food Supplies
Because the tiny plant is not an agriculturally based food crop, growing algae will not disrupt world food supplies or reduce biodiversity. Other biofuel sources, such as corn and soy that have been used to make ethanol, divert food for fuel.
Algae Can Grow Anywhere
Algae do not need fertile farmland to grow. In fact, according to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory at the U.S. Department of Energy, algae can be grown on land that has no agricultural value, in tubes or in fresh or brackish water. Algae can even grow in the desert and near industrial areas and wastewater treatment plants.
Conservatively, algae output per acre is currently 150 times that of corn, but algae is theoretically capable of producing 10 times that amount. The tiny plant also impressively outperforms soybeans, safflower, sunflower, rapeseed and oil palm—with no toxic runoff. (Joshua Tickell, From the Fryer to the Fuel Tank: The Complete Guide to Using Vegetable Oil as an Alternative Fuel. 3rd Ed. 2000)
Algae Scrubs Air Clean
Algae thrive on carbon dioxide (CO2), the primary cause of global warming. Thus as algae grow, they scrub the air clean and reduce greenhouse gases. Algae farms can help the planet by recycling millions of tons of waste carbon dioxide.
At the Arizona Public Service Redhawk power plant near Phoenix, Arizona, GFT has run pipes from the plant’s smokestacks into greenhouses, where the algae eagerly eat up the CO2.
Algae Cleans Water
Algae are extremely water friendly. Not only can algae grow in any type of water—even polluted water, they do not drain earth’s potable water supply. In fact, algae can help clean up polluted water from sewage treatment plants, mine sites, agricultural run-off and industrial waste streams by absorbing contaminants such as nitrogen and phosphorus. One dairy cow produces about 800 pounds of nitrogen a year; all that nitrogen (and much, much more) can be turned to fuel. (“Wastewater Treatment Using Algae – A Comprehensive Guide” from Oilgae, www.oligae.com)
Algae can also congeal other contaminants, such as heavy metals, helping to concentrate them for easier removal. (“Use of Algae for Removing Heavy Metal Ions From Wastewater: Progress and Prospects,”S. K. Mehta and J. P. Gaur, Critical Reviews in Biotechnology, Vol. 25, 2005)
Will Algae Turn a Profit?
Economic viability is the greatest concern for making algae biofuel a reality. Development of algae byproducts, such as animal feed, ethanol and safe petrochemicals, can increase profitability.
Sylvia Somerville - Since 1976, I have been writing and editing books, feature articles, news columns, newsletters and business materials. My credits range ...
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