So, let's talk algae. What is it? Isn't it that slimy stuff that makes river rocks slippery? Well, yes, but there's a whole lot more to algae. Taken directly from wikipedia.org:
Algae are usually found in damp places or bodies of water and thus are common in terrestrial as well as aquatic environments. However, terrestrial algae are usually rather inconspicuous and far more common in moist, tropical regions than dry ones, because algae lack vascular tissues and other adaptations to live on land. Algae can, however, endure dryness and other conditions in symbiosis with a fungus as lichen.
Algae thrives in sunlight AND CO2! So, what's the point of all this? Well, the other day, I read about Green Fuel Technologies (http://www.greenfuelonline.com) based out of Cambridge Massachusetts and GreenFuel actually runs algae farms located near smoke stacks to soak up the CO2 being emitted. Not only that, it turns out the algae can be turned into biodiesel.
You can read more about GreenFuel's technology here and an article from fastcompany.
How cool is this? I think this is awesome and I am excited there are companies out there thinking outside the box on solving the climate crisis. Who would have thought? Algae? The small guy? Packs quite a big punch! I hope this is a true technology that will help solve the increasing Global climate change problem. It looks like GreenFuel's technology has been used successfully in a couple of major facilities such as the APS Redhawk power plant in Arizona.
We need to spread the word and support and invest in companies like GreenFuel as they are paving the way for a better tomorrow. If you're interested in investing in other clean technologies, check out www.cleanedge.com for more information.
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Speaking of investment, the only two publicly-held companies I know of that have declared their development of algal energy via Greenfuel Technology's work are Pinnacle West Capital [PNW] and NRG Energy [NRG]. NRG's commitment is questionable since its CEO was recently asked on MAD MONEY face-to-face by Jim Cramer how he (David Crane) intended to clean coal emissions -- and he "forgot" to say, "algae!" Ray Hobbs of PNW's APS subsidiary, on the other hand, has been consistently and increasingly vocal -- but even he is still not talking the talk that would indicate industrialization and commercialization is underway: 1) "continuous process" (as opposed to batch process), and 2) high-performance "water recovery" (you didn't really want to run up your water bill while churning out your algae, did you?).
Biodieselist, thanks for sharing. I'll check out PNW. Shame that Hobbs didn't mention algae as a viable alternative to corn/soy for biodiesel. I hear it is supposed to grow something like ten times faster and require much less fertilizer, if any, to grow.
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