Oil From Algae

[camrogers]

Holy freaking shit.

qamar just linked to this:

A liquid fuel made from plants that is chemically identical to crude oil but which does not contribute to climate change when it is burned or, unlike other biofuels, need agricultural land to produce sounds too good to be true. But a company in San Diego claims to have developed exactly that – a sustainable version of oil it calls "green crude".

Sapphire Energy uses single-celled organisms such as algae to produce a chemical mixture from which it is possible to extract fuels for cars or airplanes. When it is burned, the fuel only releases into the air the carbon dioxide absorbed by the algae during its growth, making the whole process carbon neutral.

Article here.

Yusuf Chisti at Massey University in New Zealand estimates that algae could produce almost 100,000 litres of biodiesel a year per hectare of land, compared to 6,000 litres a hectare for oil palm, currently the most productive biofuel.

It really does feel like we're running toward a lowering door. I'd love to know what the success of something like this would have upon the global society we live in.

And on that topic, here's something else she linked to: a fascinating article about how skyrocketing transport costs are cramping globalisation, resulting in a 'made here' movement.