Algae-based jet fuel?
Is algae based jet fuel a possibility? Solazyme, a company based in San Francisco says that they have manufactured algae based jet fuel that meets industry standards. The fuel is produced by "growing algae in fermentation tanks without sunlight, satisfying eukaryotic organism's sweet tooth by feeding it a steady diet of sugar"(1). In recent tests of this fuel it met certain standards such as "density, stability, freezing point, and viscosity"(1). Most airline companies are willing to give this new fuel a try due to the skyrocketing prices of jet fuel. However will this fuel ever be able to be mass-produced at a cheap price? Right now this is not yet a reality. The amount of equipment needed to manufacture this fuel on a large scale is extremely expensive. The expensive manufacturing costs carries over to consumers making it too expensive for most people to afford. I don't think this will be used on a large scale for a long time. The costs just seem too much to be overcome. However you never know what somebody can discover in each new day.However it was an interesting article and i would recommend people to read it.
posted by abc @ 9:12 AM
4 Comments
4 Comments:
I agree with you in that it is missing a certain standard. Feasibility. Not only would they have to replace every jet they own, a gargantuan investment already, they would have to bet it all on a technology that has not proven itself. I can not see it happening without some big breakthroughs.
I understand your points about why this type of fuel might not be a possibility for use yet. However, I think that the discovery of it is another hopeful development in the crusade against dependency on oil and gasoline. Also, I think that making excuses (like Sean's reasoning that algae-fuel is untested) for not trying these new kinds of fuels is one of the barriers that keeps us from solving our dependency on oil. At one point, cars and gasoline was untested, also, but someone was willing to take the risk of trying them out. I think that we need to be as bold about new energy alternatives as people were about the originals when they were new.
I agree with you but i'm glad there trying to find another way to fuel aircrafts then using the earths natural resources. Using Algae could save alot of the earths resources and cut down on gas prices as a whole if this can be mas produced, but that might take a long time. I hope that someday they can find more and better resources.
I am of the same mind that algae based jet fuel is not completely plausible and/or executable. I also agree with Katherine that it's great to at least know that there are people out there trying very hard to reduce our dependency on oil. This article was very interesting to read, especially because of the fuel prices right now in our tense economy. If scientists and other companies can keep trying and experimenting with new things, and people can keep their minds open to new possibilities, I have faith that we will find a new energy alternative.
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