The world can be and will be green. Advances in modern technology in the development of bio fuels are becoming more common in everyday uses.
Here I will briefly explain how and why bio fuels will save the world, clean the air and power cities and machinery. I also will introduce other uses for algae I will elaborate on in future posts.
In nut shell bio fuels are made from a variety of vegetation including corn and sugar cane. I’m going to focus on algae which have lipids, fat cells, basically oils or they excrete lipids like sweat. Algae have been cultivated to produce all different types of cool stuff we need to create energy. They produce a variety of lipids as mentioned to hydrogen, methanol and ethanol depending on the strain and how it is processed after harvesting.
Bio fuels burn clean and do not create smog and pollution. On the contrary algae production cleans the Co2 from the air and replaces it with clean oxygen. This organism that’s been around for 2.5 billion years was one of the first living things on the planet and it’s still thriving and in all probability will be here long after us if things continue this way.
It wasn’t until the 1970’s that scientists begun to study algae as a feasible source of energy. Technology has gotten better and with the first major looming crude oil crisis more options were sought after. It then quickly dwindled out as that crisis was resolved.
See the related post for more info on that 1973 oil crisis.
https://www.google.ca/?gws_rd=ssl#q=oil+crisis
The second wave came in 2008 recently when oil prices topped $140 per barrel. The bio fuel industry received a lot investment and funding to develop cheaper methods for producing bio fuel.
http://www.macrotrends.net/1369/crude-oil-price-history-chart
Today fossil fuels are cheap again but algae for bio fuel is still growing but at a slower rate. Algae are being used to clean the air and help manufacture meet green house gas limits enforced by law in the EU and soon Canada. America and China lead the way in technological innovations.
It costs about $10 per gallon of bio fuel compared to a couple bucks for fossil fuel, a very expensive difference.
I recently attended a conference in Wuhan China called AOAIS 2016 (Asia Oceania Algae Innovation Summit) which brought the world’s leading algae scientists, engineers, doctors and commercial interests together to brag about they’ve done. It was 4 days of lectures about the latest discoveries and innovations to use algae for food, fuel and medicine. It wasn’t cheap to attend plus the travel expenses but it was well worth it and I learned a ton. I increased my business network and connected face to face with likeminded people who can help further ambitious plans.
I am in the early stages of designing a 6,000 liter closed circuit continuous flow, off grid, photo bioreactor to cultivate Spirulina. But today I will discuss algae for fuel. The same style as the picture below but different design using LED lighting.
Algae can clean more air and produce more oil than any other organism on earth.
It’s not easy or cheap to produce. The level of technology to mass produce it is rather complex. Add the fact that algae for bio fuels are mostly fresh water and very susceptible to illnesses and dying if the precise requirements are not constantly kept. Temperature, light, Ph, Co2 levels etc all need to be carefully monitored by trained professionals that didn’t go through intense lessons for 6 years for to work cheap.
The technology is getting closer every year. More buildings are directly implementing algae in the design to filter air and create electricity. Factories are now obligated by law to reduce carbon emissions and are turning to algae cultivation as the answer. As more countries follow suit with EU and America in carbon capture and reduction the algae industry is set to explode.
(click image for credit)
(click image for credit)
I mentioned these buildings, both residential and industrial, in a past post you can check out here.
@solarguy/algae-our-best-bet-for-the-future
So how do they turn green primordial goo into fuel used on rockets, cars and to power my house and iPad?
Step One
Build a Photo Bioreactor (PBR) or specially designed fermentation equipment big enough to produce the desired amount of fuel. That question alone is incredibly complicated due to the variety of strains and methods of cultivation. Algal for bio fuel is cultivated in closed systems protecting it from the environment. Outdoors requires space and sunlight. Or you can go indoors using lights and artificial heat which would increase production costs but would better regulate all aspects of cultivation.
fermentation
Step 2
Chose the strain and nutrient formula best suited for your photo bioreactor. Again a complex task there are many methods for extracting the lipids or gasses they release. Some will excrete the desired products like oils or alcohol others need to be processed.
Common strains for bio fuel are
Botryococcus braunii
Dunaliella tertiolecta
Pleurochrysis carterae
Botryococcu
“B. braunii has liquid-hydrocarbon biosynthetic capabilities and is therefore a promising source of renewable hydrocarbon fuels (Weiss et al. 2010). - (20 Sep 2010) - Wendy Guiry”
http://www.algaebase.org/search/species/detail/?species_id=27992
Step 3 A
A strain excretes the oils which can be collected without sacrificing the algae thus taking away from down while waiting for a new batch to grow. The oils will float to the top of the water.
Step 3 B
A strain that needs to be collected and broken down releasing the oils from its membrane. There are several methods for extracting lipids from algae. Spinning the algae at incredibly high speeds in a centrifuge until the oils are forced out of the membrane and collected. Or using electric shock and magnetism to break the membrane and lastly and becoming more unpopular due to it environmental impact is using chemicals.
Step 4
Clean and purify the oil using sophisticated equipment.
Simple right?
Well it’s not easy and that’s why not everybody is doing. The good news there is teams of highly trained engineers and scientists working hard to crack the code and make algae the fuel of the future.
It takes up less space to produce an equivalent amount of energy from top to bottom. Algae loves waste and pollution so it will also clean what the fossil fuels dirtied without creating waste. To be used in the same manner as crude oil, they are even trying to make biodegradable plastic with the byproducts.
We wouldn’t have to level forests to grow corn or sugar cane for bio fuel. All countries would become self sustaining in the energy sector freeing up resources for things like education, medicine and bettering our world.
I have tons of private photos of my trip and tour of one of the world's top Algae research facilities located in China. I interviewed some scientists and engineers. I have more to share if your interested.
I hope you found this article interesting and unique..
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@solarguy/go-topless-and-support-international-women-s-rights-day
@solarguy/spirulina-the-super-food-of-the-future
@solarguy/south-china-sea-why-it-matters-and-why-it-s-the-way-it-is