# can algae, fuel and feed the world?



## fishyjoe24 (May 18, 2010)

http://www.scientificamerican.com/a...WT.mc_id=SA_CAT_SP_20111115&fb_source=message


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## fishyjoe24 (May 18, 2010)

so I guess i was the only one interested in this article... it was a good read..


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## Storms (Sep 12, 2011)

Cool article! I really enjoyed it. Craig Venter is the guy that started Human Genome Sciences in the 90s. They were the first company to completely map the Human DNA. It's cool that he's moved on to other things like bio-engineering new super-algae.

I can totally see it now though - his cruise around the world on the "Sorcerer II" - he sounds like a bond villain. Pretty soon he will be telephoning Washington to let them know that he has invented a super algae that will destroy the world unless he gets... 1 million dollars!!! muaahahahaah....


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## digital_gods (Apr 23, 2010)

There is alot of potential with algae as an oil source for the use of bio disel. Funny enough, the strain that gives the best yeild is a cyanobacteria that is responsible for red bloom causing fish die off. 

I'm personally don't want to see them make a super algae till they have protocols in place to ensure no natural disasters could happen if it got out. The current super algae calurpa taxioma is killing the Mediterranean Sea and spreading around the globe.


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## jasonmemo (Jun 19, 2010)

pretty cool. now is this algae the same as aquarium algae? thinking about it, plecos live on algae.


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## foreverknight (Jul 8, 2010)

there is a ton of debate about algae and what it can support... back in biblical times they say a group of people lived off a "mana" machine which some scholars believe was a machine that produced algae.


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## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

Hmm I personally don't think algae is going to catch on as a way to produce fuel. I think something along the lines of solar technology used to make hydrogen or charge batteries is much more likely. Maybe even a resurgence of nuclear plants. Who knows maybe fusion will become viable one of these days. Algae might help but I just don't see the US making massive algae farms for profit.


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## Virc003 (Aug 18, 2011)

digital_gods said:


> I'm personally don't want to see them make a super algae till they have protocols in place to ensure no natural disasters could happen if it got out. The current super algae calurpa taxioma is killing the Mediterranean Sea and spreading around the globe.


This is one reason why I vote no right now. The super strains of bacteria and algae that already exist are problematic enough. Plus there are plenty of other options, at least for power and propulsion (replacing plastic is beyond me), to not have to rely on oil. They just need to be refined and better engineered.

Think about how long we've been designing and upgrading and perfecting the gasoline engine- over a century. Now what would happen if we applied the same amount of time and resources to any other fuel source like this algae idea. The results would be amazing compared with where they currently are.

What I would like to see, is more effort put into capturing and recycling kinetic energy. Not just wind energy, but storing the energy that is normally wasted by the brakes of a car. There's also tidal energy. When the tide comes in, it pushes on a plate that spins an alternator (much like this toy). The plate could also help in reducing erosion of the coastlines.

Something even better than that though stems from the joke idea of using a hamster wheel to power things. Why not outfit gyms with exercise equipment that will use the energy we put in to lifting weights? I'm sure this will make more people want to work out which will help with obesity issues, and if done right, could be a source of income for individuals similar to google's ad system (or at least a discount from those insane membership fees).

Since we are talking about oil, I thought I'd mention this: I figured out the real cause of global warming. It's our air conditioners. The way they work is by taking the heat out of one area and putting it into another. So, we are taking the heat out of our homes, cars, and buildings and pumping it back outside. All we then have to do is turn off our a/c units and open our doors and windows.


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## fishyjoe24 (May 18, 2010)

oh fire truck you can't be serious air conditioners? 

global warming== combustion of fossil fuels in cars, factories and electricity production. The gas responsible for the most warming is carbon dioxide, Other contributors include methane released from landfills and agriculture (especially from the digestive systems of grazing animals), nitrous oxide from fertilizers, gases used for refrigeration and industrial processes, and the loss of forests that would otherwise store CO2.

Different greenhouse gases have very different heat-trapping abilities. Some of them can even trap more heat than CO2. A molecule of methane produces more than 20 times the warming of a molecule of CO2. Nitrous oxide is 300 times more powerful than CO2. Other gases, such as chlorofluorocarbons (which have been banned in much of the world because they also degrade the ozone layer), have heat-trapping potential thousands of times greater than CO2. But because their concentrations are much lower than CO2, none of these gases adds as much warmth to the atmosphere as CO2 does.

In order to understand the effects of all the gases together, group greenhouse gases in terms of the equivalent amount of CO2. Since 1990, yearly emissions have gone up by about 6 billion metric tons of "carbon dioxide equivalent" worldwide, more than a 20 percent increase.


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## Virc003 (Aug 18, 2011)

fishyjoe24 said:


> oh fire truck you can't be serious air conditioners?


That's because I'm not. Thus the  That entire last paragraph was just for laughs.


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## fishyjoe24 (May 18, 2010)

Virc003 said:


> That's because I'm not. Thus the  That entire last paragraph was just for laughs.


it's cool, I couldn't tell. I've actually been studying in to global warming, and lots of different stuff.


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