Journal 13: November 22nd

I met a guy at a Burning Man event this fall who is working in the environmental science field. He had a display on algae fuel and a small demostration area with graphics describing the process and the advantages of algae fuel as opposed to petroleum. As I walked away from the booth, I wondered why algae fuel was not getting more press, and why the American government has not yet subsidized an industry that could potentially solve two of our biggest problems: global warming and foreign oil dependence.

The facts on algae fuel are almost too good to be true:

• An acre of algae can produce 50 times more oil than an acre of soy.
• Algae facilities can suck significant amounts of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere; the fumes coming out of utility smokestacks can be piped into algae growing facilities.
• Algae uses sunlight to produce lipids (oil).
• Biodegradable.

One of the problems in algae production is finding cheap CO2. But experiments have shown that CO2 from smokestacks works well with algae. If we placed algae fields next to all smokestacks, pollution manufacturing would be green and clean energy produced.

The United States began the Aquatic Species Program in 1978. The programs first goals were to create hyrdrogen, but in the 80s the focus turned towards biodiesel production. In 1996 the program was cut because of lack of funding. GreenFuel is a private American corporation that has started where the Aquatic Species Program left off. The company's future looks bright, and at the moment it has enough investors to continue to grow without government assistance.