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Algae for Biodiesel? What does it take?

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by Sarah Curry With diesel fuel retailing around $4.00 a gallon, algae-based oil sources are beginning to look better. More than 50 companies in the U.S. are working to commercialize algae-generated biodiesel. Most start-ups begin with the findings of the Aquatic Species Program, which ran at the National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL) from 1978-1996. The Lab collected and screened more than 3000 algal strains, looking for species that naturally produce a useful quantity of oil. After narrowing the collection down to 300 strains, mainly green algae and diatoms, NREL grew the algae in test ponds in Roswell, New Mexico for a year. They also studied the process for lipid extraction and conversion to biodiesel. In the last few years of the program, they worked to genetically modify the algae to produce more oil. Microalgae are fast-growing beasts with a voracious appetite for carbon dioxide. They have the potential to produce more oil per acre than any other feedstock being used to make biodiesel, and they can be grown on land that’s unsuitable for food crops. In theory, producing algadiesel should be easy: Just separate CO2 from a coal plant’s exhaust, bubble it through an algae tank, squeee out the oil […]

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World Geothermal Energy Nearing Eruption

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by Jonathan Dorn With fossil fuel prices escalating and countries searching for ways to reduce oil dependence and greenhouse gas emissions, capturing the earth’s heat for power generation is garnering new attention. First begun in Larderello, Italy, in 1904, electricity generation using geothermal energy is now taking place in 24 countries, 5 of which use it to produce 15% or more of their total electricity. In the first half of 2008, total world installed geothermal power capacity passed 10,000 megawatts (MW) – enough electricity to meet the needs of 60 million people, roughly the population of the United Kingdom. In 2010, capacity could increase to 13,500 MW across 46 countries – the equivalent to 27 coal-fired power plants. Originating from the earth’s core and from the decay of naturally occurring isotopes such as those of uranium, thorium, and potassium, the heat energy in the uppermost six miles of the planet’s crust is vast – 50,000 times greater than the energy content of all oil and natural gas resources. Chile, Peru, Mexico, the U.S., Canada, Russia, China, Japan, the Philippines, Indonesia, and other countries along the Ring of Fire (an area of high volcanic activity encircling the basin of the Pacific […]

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Weekly Clean Energy Roundup: October 1, 2008

DOE Awards $15 Million to 21 Companies for Efficient Buildings Deepwater Wind to Build Rhode Island Off-Shore Wind Plant GM to Produce New Efficient Engines in Flint, Michigan First U.S. Auction of CO2 Allowances Brings in $38.5 Million DOE Awards $15 Million to 21 Companies for Efficient Buildings DOE announced last week that it has selected 21 companies to receive $15 million as the first phase of awards for the Net-Zero Energy Commercial Building Initiative. DOE’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and National Renewable Energy Laboratory will work with each awardee to design, build, commission, and operate at least one new energy-efficient prototype building. Compared to similar new commercial buildings that meet the minimum requirements of standards set by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), the new prototype buildings will consume only half as much energy. The two national labs will also work with each company to retrofit one existing building to consume 30% less energy than a retrofitted building that meets the minimum ASHRAE standards. The building projects will use both cutting-edge energy efficiency technologies and on-site renewable power generation to reduce the energy use of the buildings. The awardees for this phase of the award […]

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