- DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) has been able to extract oil from algal ponds at $2 per gallon and says they will soon be able to implement large-scale refinement of that oil into jet fuel for less than $3 per gallon.
- This project stemmed from the US military being the nation's single largest energy consumer at 60-75 million barrels of oil per year.
- Pros to algae-based fuel:
- Algal farms don't threaten food supplies (unlike corn-based ethanol).
- Algal strains can be grown on household waste or other unsanitary water supplies.
- Algae absorbs CO2 during its growth (theoretically making the fuel carbon-neutral before procession & transport).
- It's amazing how research to reduce military costs could end up being America's saving grace for an affordable renewable energy source.
2.15.2010
Top off the gas tank with some algae
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