Five Amazing Renewable Energy Advancements
Green crude
Perhaps one of the most promising innovations in recent years is clean energy derived from algae. The slimy green stuff that collects on surface water is filled with fuel potential: Some kinds of algae are comprised of more than 50% oil and contribute zero emissions to greenhouse gases.
According to the Worldwatch Institute, an average acre of algae grown today for pharmaceutical industries can produce 5,000 gallons (19,000 liters) of biodiesel each year. In contrast, an average acre of corn produces 420 gallons (1,600 liters) of ethanol per year, and an acre of soybeans yields just 70 gallons (265 liters) of biodiesel per year.
With just water, carbon dioxide and sunlight, algae can quadruple in mass in just one day.
Algae is encouraging not only because its quickly renewable, but because it’s carbon-neutral. It’s a living, single-celled organism that performs photosynthesis, so it takes the same amount of carbon out of the atmosphere to create itself as it puts back in when it’s burned. Additionally, it removes nitrogen from wastewater. Algae has an application in water treatment facilities, as well.
The primary U.S. company cultivating this green-colored fuel is Sapphire Energy in San Diego. According to the company, they have created green crude that is identical to the light, sweet crude oil used to manufacture gasoline, jet fuel, diesel, and heating oil.
Another benefit to mass-production of green crude is that it is identical to fossil-based crude. That means it can be used in the existing refining infrastructure. None of the factories and refining facilities currently making oil products out of fossil-based crude will have to replace any of their expensive equipment.
The only thing keeping us from moving forward with “green crude” is the cost of production. Currently, it is still cheaper to drill for crude than to put the proper algae-cultivating infrastructure in place.
Study: Pros and Cons of Algae Biofuel | HeatingOil.com says: says:
[...] However, there are still several benefits that recommend algae over soil-based biofuels. For starters, algae grow atop water and do not compete with food crops for land space. Also, they have a higher energy yield than other biofuels, including corn and switchgrass. Such qualities have led some scientists to extol algae as the most promising of biofuels and the future of global energy. [...]
Exxon Biofuels Research Underway, with Focus on Algae | HeatingOil.com says: says:
[...] project early in 2008, about 18 months before it announced its partnership with Synthetic Genomics. Algae-based biofuel was chosen on the basis of four main criteria—scalability, economics, technical feasibility, and [...]
Carbon Dioxide Injections Offer Hope of Carbon-Neutral Oil | HeatingOil.com says: says:
[...] of carbon-neutral oil production could even make oil appealing to the environmental movement. “Green crude” options currently include deriving fuel from things like algae and [...]
Biofuel Industry Gets Over $500 Million in Stimulus Funding | HeatingOil.com says: says:
[...] biofuel will be processed into jet fuel and diesel. Algae are promising because they consist of more than 50 percent oil and contribute zero emissions to greenhouse gases. According to the Worldwatch Institute, an average acre of algae can produce 5,000 gallons of [...]
New Hampshire Company Aims To Make Biofuel From Sewage | HeatingOil.com says: says:
[...] hopes to use sewage as the feedstock for oil-producing algae. As our Jennifer Schwatz has written, algae are a promising source for biofuel: high-yield, fast-growing, carbon-neutral, don’t tie up productive farmland, and can thrive [...]
Biofuels Made More Affordable Through Nanotechnology | HeatingOil.com says: says:
[...] Scientists now have a better and less expensive process to convert biomass into biofuel by using nanotechnology, reports Science Daily. Dr. James Palmer, associate professor of chemical engineering at Louisiana Tech University, in collaboration with Dr. Yuri Lvov, Dr. Dale Snow, and Dr. Hisham Hegab, is finding ways to improve the cellulosic ethanol process, which allows other materials—such as wood, grass, and stalks—to be converted into ethanol. [...]
Major Deal For Bio Jet Fuel Shows Future of Commercial Flight is Green | HeatingOil.com says: says:
[...] which stands for Synthetic Paraffinic Kerosene. BioJet’s product is made with seeds from the jatropha plant, a multipurpose crop native to Central and South [...]
Fuel Uses Education and Inspiration to Make Impassioned Case for Green Energy | HeatingOil.com says: says:
[...] energy technologies and the huge potential they hold for powering America’s future. From algae that feed off of power plants’ CO2 emissions to megaflora trees that reach full maturity in just three years to provide rapidly renewable [...]
Swedish Neighborhood Provides Futuristic Model of Green Living, Energy Efficiency | HeatingOil.com says: says:
[...] synthetic biofuel made from trash is among the renewable alternatives to fossil fuels that we’ve wr…, the infrastructure in Hammarby Sjostad is especially [...]