Energy of the future? It’s green and slimy
Penni Crabtree, San Diego Union Tribune
Algae’s potential vast, but the cost so far is immense
Some 300 million years ago, decaying algae that filled the world’s seas and swamps left behind a gift: oil.
Now, with the planet rapidly approaching a time where the rate of oil depletion outpaces the supply, researchers and energy companies are hoping the hardy little green slime — with a little biotechnology tweaking — can do the trick again.
“Algae was the first known organism, and as it settled in the great basins of the world it became crude oil,” said Tim Zenk, vice president of corporate affairs for Sapphire Energy, a San Diego company that is working to convert algae into an affordable alternative fuel. “So the beauty of this is that we are starting off with something that’s already been done in nature. We just have to understand it more.”
Algae has such immense potential because it can be grown naturally, using carbon dioxide from the air and sunlight as an energy source, and it can be done in huge ponds on infertile land.
Algae also produces five to 10 times more energy molecules than crop biofuels, and is an extremely clean energy, creating almost no carbon.
Scientists agree that the science to turn algae into fuel has arrived. It’s just the economics that remain elusive.
