good article on algae-based production of ethanol

[mrfred]

http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2009/09...ect-71147.html

The article has pretty good detail. If the details are correct, large scale algae-based ethanol production is still 15 years away. It will be interesting to see if corn-based (or some other plant) can hang on long enough to bridge the gap to algae-based.

[97TSiAWD]

Interesting article. I'm glad that they mentioned the political side of it, since I often forget the role that plays. It may be a good idea and there may be an effective way to execute it, but unless the general public thinks it's a good idea and the government supports it (i.e. politicians believe there will be something to gain for themselves), chances are it won't go anywhere.

[Jim in Tucson]

Good article Mr Fred.

The author points out that there are no algae states to rally citizen and political support for algae use as there was/is for the use of corn.

That is operationally correct, as no states are producing energy from algae at this point. However, there are particular states that will naturally be at the forefront - the Sun Belt states.

After all, the process of producing liquid energy (either ethanol or bio-diesel) from algae is really another process of capturing energy from the sun.

[JJsEvo8]

I think it will be finding the right trick of Algae strain / genetic modifications / enzymes. Its really interesting though, turning up a "Bio-Reactor" just sounds cool