New microbe turns sugary seaweed into fuel

Chemistry World ^ | 19 January 2012 | Jon Evans

[MaxMax]

No it doesn't mean the problems are solved. See, we can't fish to much
because of the Environuts and now instead they'll stop this because it
will deplete the ocean of fish food.

I wonder if using dead people for fuel is ok.

Just thinking ahead.

[justlurking]

I wonder if using dead people for fuel is ok.

No, that would interrupt the supply of Soylent Green.

[Does so]

How about all that exotic milfoil?

[Reeses]

The key to renewable fuels is to produce the feedstock cheaply, with low overhead and input costs, and on some resource that’s not already being used to produce something more valuable.

In this case the land, water, and sunshine are vast and free for the taking. This opens up 70% of Earth's surface/70% of the Earth's available solar energy which we are not currently using for much. Sun blocking cloud cover is greatly reduced over the open oceans away from land. Even if growing efficiency is very low, all we need is a low cost harvesting technology to make this work. For thousands of years we used whales to do this harvesting but we're going to need something more scalable. We could replace the entire petroleum industry using less than 2 percent of the ocean surface, and it's carbon neutral on a large scale.

[conservatism_IS_compassion]

This is pretty much redundant now that the price of natural gas is driven down by the huge increment of supply due to the shale fracking revolution.

OTOH it seems according to the WSJ today that liquid rather than gaseous fuel is dramatically more valuable because of its superior portability for transportation/mobile power.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks neverdem.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks neverdem.

[airborne]

(channeling enviro-Nazis from bygone years) -"It will be years and years before oil seaweed can be converted into enough oil to make any major difference in prices, so why even bother?"

(end sarcasm)

[Bellflower]

How about all that exotic milfoil?

Here's something about that from 2008. Wonder how their study has come along?

________________________________________________

Milfoil to be studied as biofuel

October 2008

U.S. Water News Online

SPOKANE, Wash. — Ask boaters, dock owners, swimmers or scientists and you're likely to get the same answer — Eurasian milfoil is a good-for-nothing pest.

Since the mid-1970s, the feathery water plant has spread in the Inland Northwest's rivers and lakes, and hundreds of thousands of dollars are spent battling it each year.

Now a couple from Elk, Wash., has come up with a new idea — what if harvested milfoil could be turned into biofuel?

“I got the idea while I was reading a document about biodiversity,” said Alanna Mitchell, a supervisor with the Pend Oreille Conservation District. “I made a note in the margin, asking how can you come at problems like milfoil and handle them more comprehensively?”

Currently, milfoil is pulled out of lakes and streams using various equipment and simple manpower, or killed off by applying herbicides.

The plant is so nutrient-rich it burns other vegetation when piled on the shoreline.

“It was the harvesting that was the clue,” Mitchell said. “I mean, we already have this stuff. I was wondering if we could use it for something.”

Another consideration was the debate over using corn as a fuel source.

“One wants to go green, but one doesn't want to deplete a food source,” Mitchell said.

Mitchell and her husband, Cesar “Sandy” Clavell, who both have backgrounds in environmental sciences, applied for a grant through the Washington state Department of Ecology. The couple received about $8,000 for initial research.

They plan to investigate two methods of extracting oil from the water plants for use in biofuels — distilling and using solvents. What's left of the plant after each process will be composted and tested.

Students at Selkirk High School will be doing most of the research.

“Sandy is just a neat guy that he would think of including us in the first place,” said John Kinney, science and math teacher at Selkirk High School. The school has a certified water quality research lab, which came about because the rural school runs its own wastewater treatment plant and water system.

“We do water testing for many of the small towns around here,” Kinney said, adding that his environmental science class, and possibly some of the chemistry students, will be working on Mitchell and Clavell's research project.

“It's great for the students because this is for real, and it's an example of classic research,” said Kinney. “The kids get to see how it's done, how you explore all the variables and experience how the excitement sometimes wears off. Research can get tedious because you do the same thing over and over again.”

Ron Curren, public works director for Pend Oreille County, said it would be ideal if milfoil could be used for something.

Curren is waiting for a $200,000 milfoil harvester to arrive within the next couple of weeks..........

www.uswaternews.com/archives/arcquality/8milftoxx10.html

[neverdem]

This is pretty much redundant now that the price of natural gas is driven down by the huge increment of supply due to the shale fracking revolution.

The environazis are causing all sorts of ignorant opposition to fracking.

OTOH it seems according to the WSJ today that liquid rather than gaseous fuel is dramatically more valuable because of its superior portability for transportation/mobile power.

Ethanol has more energy density as a liquid, and it's a chemical commodity. It can be used as a solvent or reagent for making other molecules, e.g. ethanol will react with organic acids to make esters as in polyester.

Cheap energy, the opposite of Obama's stated desire, will help getting out of the Great Recession.

[rmlew]

What the heck is wrong with the renewable energy industry? Do they hate the environment that much? Coastal water areas are already heavily damaged ecological zones thanks to human activity on land, not to mention over fishing. And now they want to start harvesting the plants? Do they really want to destroy all fish stock that much?