25 Responses

1. @BlacklitFloater GM algae are definitely being studied. The metabolic pathway of lipid production (lipids are used to produce biodiesel) is being studied in hopes to be able to modify the pathway and obtain higher lipid yields. Algae’s light antennae are being genetically engineered to be smaller to improve photosynthetic efficiency (the antennae dissipate excess light photons into heat instead of using all the photons for photosynthesis)

2. @BlacklitFloater GM algae are definitely being studied. The metabolic pathway of lipid production (lipids are used to produce biodiesel) is being studied in hopes to be able to modify the pathway and obtain higher lipid yields. Algae’s light antennae are being genetically engineered to be smaller to improve photosynthetic efficiency (the antennae dissipate excess light photons into heat instead of using all the photons for photosynthesis)

3. @BlacklitFloater GM algae are definitely being studied. The metabolic pathway of lipid production (lipids are used to produce biodiesel) is being studied in hopes to be able to modify the pathway and obtain higher lipid yields. Algae’s light antennae are being genetically engineered to be smaller to improve photosynthetic efficiency (the antennae dissipate excess light photons into heat instead of using all the photons for photosynthesis). It’s tricky because there are MANY different species

4. @enantiomer2000 It IS working already.

   It’s the economics that aren’t, because as of right now, a high value added by-product (i.e. beta carotene) needs to be sold with biofuel in order for biofuel from microalgae to be profitable – while technologies are still being developed.

5. @BlacklitFloater GM algae are definitely being studied. The metabolic pathway of lipid production (lipids are used to produce biodiesel) is being studied in hopes to be able to modify the pathway and obtain higher lipid yields. Algae’s light antennae are being genetically engineered to be smaller to improve photosynthetic efficiency (the antennae dissipate excess light photons into heat instead of using all the photons for photosynthesis). It’s tricky because there are MANY different species

6. @BlacklitFloater GM algae are definitely being studied. The metabolic pathway of lipid production (lipids are used to produce biodiesel) is being studied in hopes to be able to modify the pathway and obtain higher lipid yields. Algae’s light antennae are being genetically engineered to be smaller to improve photosynthetic efficiency (the antennae dissipate excess light photons into heat instead of using all the photons for photosynthesis). It’s tricky because there are MANY different species

7. @UpBeatnik The energy costs for making algae based fuels, are higher then the profit.

8. @kmagstudios

   Actually, it might even be the case that not all of the CO2 that goes into the algae is released again upon burning, which would make the carbon impact a very slight negative impact…a good thing in this case.

9. Pond scum is great. Wish more attention was given to it as an alternative to imported oil.

10. So he is patenting already existing algae? Maybe I should patent him then sue him for using my design?

11. These people dont have even idea what they are doing, algae grow with light and cannot be grown under such shadow conditions, these bags maka shadow each other.
    Te visible concentration is very low and the expenses in harvesting will be very high due to the low dry weigth content.
    Yo should read first Mr. Benneman in NREL, instead of wasting money

12. does the gas from algae have a higher BTU than propane?

13. well maybe it has a chance then.

14. this is amazing and i think that we have to get more people to know about this because if it really works then is is truly AMAZING

15. Yeah that’s the one thing that seems odd, I hope they’re not considering stuff like GM algae. That could ruin this entire idea’s credibility.

16. Biofuel puts off a lot less CO2 then fossil fuels, but the algae from which this fuel comes from uses the CO2 to grow, so it comes around full circle… so the impact would be close to 0… Algae is definitely the future of Alternative Energy…

17. A patent?

18. Burning the diesel bio fuel emits very little co2. So its really a step forward on both ends. Growing the algae captures CO2. Then you take the algae oil and use it for bio fuel that emits very little CO2.

19. Carbon is released but it is a cycle within in the earth so the earth’s carbon level always remains nuetral.

20. Yes it will. Oil is created from Pond Scum. The same material. Algea does not require the other energy needs that corn or oil do. It also doubles and reproduces much faster and continuous. So it can be harvested year round. It is much more efficient of a biofuel. It is known as carbon-nuetral which all biofuels are. This has much potential and of all the alternative fuel solutions, behind the scenes, this is getting alot of attention and money from , Shell, Exxon, Boeing, American Airlines.

21. this is BS. it will never work.

22. but carbon is still released, still seems like a half-way point between fossil fuels and a real zero-emission solution.

23. The carbon released from fossil fuels is presicely that, ie. fossilized carbon that took millions of years to sequester. Since the industrial revolution (just over a century), we have been releasing billions of tons of this ‘fossil carbon’, hence the warming. This algae system captures it’s carbon from the atmosphere, and releases less carbon when it’s burned than it captured in it’s production (some is converted into thermal energy in the combustion process). UpBeatnik

24. Question: if the concern is green house gasses and CO2 production by burning alternative fuels how are we fixing this problem? I agree this is a great source for biofuel, but isnt the global “climate change” issue being overlooked by burning a different kind of fuel?

25. As a Volkswagen dealer, I can tell you thousands of VW diesel owners are looking for high-quality biodiesel from a source such as this. Great work! Mike Velemirovich, Hillcrest Volkswagen, Nova Scotia