Texas company Valcent Products has a plan for a renewable-energy future: grow algae, then extract its oil — up to 50% of the pond scum’s weight — to create biodiesel. They’ve turned $5 million in investment money into a vertical “pond” called the Vertigrow Lab to learn how to grow the green stuff more effectively — and determine which variants work best for producing fuel for automobiles, aircraft, etc.
It looks like algae-powered buses are still a ways off, but possibly in our future. Maybe they’re in Galactica’s future, too. Just think: algae-powered Raptors mean more tyllium for the fleet.
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6 Responses to Algae: It’s Not Just What’s For Dinner
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It’s not algae!
Soylent green is people!
Actually, considering how fat people are, if someone came up with a way to convert body fat into biodiesel…
Soylent Green is PEOPLE!!!!!!
HAHAHAHHAA, Luc, you reminded me of Fight Club!
I still think about the algae planet every time I make salad for dinner.
Since I saw the original story, I’ve been interested in some of Valcen’ts other initiatives which include veritical fruit/vegetable growth. I read some of their documentation that says they can increase yields per square acre by a factor of 20 with 5% fo the water. Brilliant.
Some of what I’ve uncovered can be found here:
http://vertigro2day.blogspot.com/
I have been trying to tell big business and the government for over six years about this, they just want to keep using corn and oil! Green Fuel Technologies has been around for some time but nobody listens! It is pretty bad when the ocean and the dessert can supply more then we can use and we don’t use it! I guess it is easier to pay four dollars a gallon! They say by 2009 we will be paying over eight dollars a gallon and diesel will be over ten! Yeah lets not look for cheaper, cleaner, unlimited amounts of renewable energy! Won’t matter by 2010, we will see the greatest depression this country has ever seen, and even the oil men will have to suffer then!!!!!!!