Excellent Info on Oil From Algae
Posted by Kirk M on 12 Jun 2007 | Tagged as: Environment
While perusing through my stats over the past few days, I noticed several searches leading here that led folks to my original Oil from Algae post back in March. It finally got through my thick skull that I had received a comment from Narsi, one of the coordinators of www.oilgae.com that let me know about the existence of this extremely informative site. I had wanted to write up a follow up post with her comment and the link to the site way back then but for some reason or other, I completely blew it. So here’s to making up for lost time and the info that folks seem to be looking for. I’ve reprinted her full comment here for you to read over before you head to the site.
Thanks for the article?it is heartening to see algae getting a lot of publicity, something I feel they deserve.
I co-ordinate Oilgae, a site that explores use of algae as a feedstock for biodiesel, and I can say with some amount of confidence based on my researches that algae appear to be one of the most qualified candidates for biodiesel production.
While the math certainly appears to favor algae, there are a number of issues to be overcome. These have to do with (1) choosing optimal algal strains, (2) issues faced in cultivation and harvesting (believe me there are some serious bottlenecks here), and (3) cost-effective methods to extract oil and transform it into biodiesel.
So yes, there is still a long way to go before it can be proven with certainty that algal biodiesel can be cost-effective on a large scale, but it is gratifying to see brilliant minds (not to forget VC money) getting into this field. And with institutes like MIT (Boston) getting into the act, I?m optimistic most of the above-mentioned issues will be overcome.
Time will tell if algae are our future source of energy, but for now, they certainly appear to have many of the qualifications required for the same.
Narsi from Oilgae - Oil from Algae
And if the above site doesn’t satisfy your appetite for this type of information, I’m providing a direct link to the site’s blog where you can pose questions and leave comments if you wish. A more interactive experience as it were.
Both are a definite read for those already interested or working with this sort of thing and even more so for those who wish to become familiar with it.
So with all apologizes to Narsi, whom I really didn’t mean to ignore, my head sometimes resembles that proverbial sieve they keep talking about and my memory simply runs through it. Glad I finally remembered.
Technorati tags: environment, global warming, biodiesel, algae
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2 Comments »
on 15 Jun 2007 at 12:29 am 1.Oilgae said …
Thaks Kirk for the kind comments…I wish Oilgae could be even more useful to those pursuing this promising alternative energy source, and will put efforts to make sure it indeed is more useful in future
All the best to yoru blog too!
Narsi
Oilgae
on 17 Jun 2007 at 11:12 am 2.Kirk M said …
Hi Narsi,
Good to hear from you again. Everything takes time but I think this is one of the best bets, not only to produce fuel but also to help with the build up of atmospheric carbon dioxide. I read a another article (can’t think of the source at the moment) that demonstrated how algae can be used for this purpose. My hopes are with you and your endeavor.