Algae Fuel, Baby December 3, 2007
Posted by fitsnews in Good Stuff.trackback
ENERGY INDEPENDENCE IS SWAMPALICIOUS
FITSNews – December 3, 2007 – Since the legendary Pimpfiniti was powered exclusively by the unbridled sex appeal of its owner, we haven’t really gotten into the whole debate over emerging fuel technologies. We do have a little container of biodiesel fuel in our office, but in all fairness Sic Willie thought it was a minibottle of Jack Daniels when he ganked it from the office of one of his many ex-girlfriend lobbyists up in D.C.
Accordingly, we’re not entirely up to speed on things like algae fuel, for example. Or frankly anything related to the whole fuel debate that doesn’t involve bitching at the gas pump. All we know is if you call something “clean coal” it polls a helluva lot better than “dirty coal.” Sort of like clean laundry versus dirty laundry.
Anyway, far as we can tell, the whole alternative energy debate revolves around a desire to “reduce America’s dependence on foreign oil,” which is a nice way of saying that the people who control foreign oil pretty much want to kill us. It may also have something to do with the environment. We’re not really sure.
But for those of you presently unable to power your cars, homes and businesses off of your own sex appeal, scientists are working hard to make algae a cost-effective fuel source that can be produced for just two bucks a gallon. Right now it’s $20 a gallon, which according to people who can count is “impractical.” It also doesn’t taste too hot on the rocks with a twist of lime.
The process apparently involves isolating the correct algae strains, which sounds almost as fun as seeing your favorite rock band in concert.
“If you can get algae oils down below $2 a gallon, then you’ll be where you need to be,” Jennifer Holmgren, director of the renewable fuels unit of UOP, an energy subsidiary of Honeywell International, tells the New York Times. “And there’s a lot of people who think you can.”
In case you’re wondering, at this point we’re looking for pretty much any excuse to stop writing about this particular subject. We’re not even sure why we started writing about it in the first place, because it’s probably not all that important. Unless of course Jennifer Holmgren is hot, in which case count on FITSNews to keep you up to speed on the very latest developments …
FITSNews For Now 
Oh Come on Sic(k) Willie, don’t you care about alternative energy. My favorite is poop/poot gas exchange. It can be done at a landfill or at the local waste water treatment facility. The waste-water idea is being done in Indiana, while the landfill operations are going on right here in SC, in such wonderful places as Lee County, Elgin, Horry County, and in Aiken. Greenville is talking about doing it and powering BMW that way. And lets not forget our lady of Clemson who’s turning Peach Poop into hydrogen fuel.
Alternative energy is a joke. Call me when it is cheaper than gas (without taxes and subsidies). It also better be able to power my Suburban.
P.S. the BMW plant idea is interesting and innovative. However, that is natural gas (hardly alternative) that was funded completely through private enterprise. Furthermore, the natural gas from the landfill can only meet a portion of BMW’s energy needs. Don’t expect to be driving cars around on natural gas from landfills, not going to happen.
Alternative Energy is not a joke, in fact the only reason that oil is/was ever cheap has a lot to do with the fact that our government subsidizes it. Japan subsidezed Solar Power for a decade, and through careful investment both private and public, that country is taking the subsidies away and guess what: it’s still a cheap reliable energy source in Japan and the companies are turning profits.
The day is fast approaching where we will not have to rely on the yahoos in the middle east, or the yahoos in South America for our energy needs. Look around you in Columbia at the earnest scientific investments going on. Look at Google and there new initiative to boot the hell out of coal and oil.
And I’ll gladdly take the moral high ground on this one: unless you’ve got a business and a need to constantly haul things around or have a large family the fact that you drive a Suburban, is fast becoming morally rephrehensible.
PS: The fact that we’re consuming the natural gas that would have otherwise gone to pollute the atmosphere and contribute to global warming may not represent an energy quid pro quo alternative, but it is a manefestation of the three “R’s” Philosophy. Reduce. Reuse. Recycle. I’m not looking to BMW to create Natural Gas Vehicles, only to reduce the amount of energy they suck from the grid that would most likely come from burning coal.
Mattheus Mei –
Perhaps I’m mistaken, but doesn’t burning natural gas release the dreaded carbon in our atmosphere as well? Unfortunately, you have been swindled in to believing that the sky is falling and it is because we humans are reckless with our resources. Consuming energy is not a bad thing, in fact it is the driving force in creating the modern society we live in today. If you want to power your car and home with algae fuel be my guest, but don’t expect the rest of us to follow your lead.