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Is Algae the Answer to our Dependence on Foreign Oil?

 

            Will Cars in the Future Run on Green Gas?.
             Millions of years ago, crude oil was formed. It was made by algae, and somehow then buried deep within the earth. These algae are still capable of producing oil. While it's easy to produce an algae biodiesel, a California company has recently been the first to be successful at refining this algal "green crude" into a high-octane gasoline chemically identical to conventional fuels, and capable of being used in any car made today with no engine modification.
             The project was stopped in 1996, when crude oil prices dropped, but has recently been revived. Investors are writing huge checks. Many see algae fields developing into the oil fields of the future.
             Why is algae farming so exciting? First, it doesn't use valuable farm land, leaving it available for food production. This would reduce our dependence on foreign food imports. Second, algae farming can be done on non-arable land with non-potable water. Land that has never been able to be used for anything can now be used to reduce our dependence on foreign oil.
             How much does algae based oil cost to produce? No one is saying, but they will say that it is competitive with drilling or producing other biofuels. Obviously, this method of producing oil will be much more environmentally friendly than drilling.
             We have been told that the only thing that makes ethanol cheap is the huge government subsides it receives. Ethanol uses massive amounts of energy in production. We have also seen firsthand the effect on grocery prices when our corn crop is used for ethanol production instead of being used for feeds, oils and other food products. Ethanol reduces the efficiency of gasoline, and causes problems in some vehicles. It is not the long term solution to our dependence on foreign oil. Algae farming might well be.
             While the most productive biofuel crop, oil palm, only produces 6,000 litres per hectare of land, estimates are that algae could produce almost 100,000 litres of biodiesel a year per hectare.


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