Biofuels: limited land may no longer be an issue.

[kemist]

Biofuels May be Harvested from the Sea

http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2011/07/biofuels-may-be-harvested-from-the-sea?cmpid=WNL-Friday-July8-2011


The use of kelp (Laminaria digitata) could provide an important alternative to terrestrial grown biofuels, but the suitability of its chemical composition varies on a seasonal basis.


Biofeul research has focused on terrestrial plants, but these have a serious drawback -- the conflict between using land to grow food or fuel. Marine ecosystems are an untapped resource that account for over 50% of global biomass. Seaweeds are capable of producing more biomass per square metre than fast growing terrestrial plants such as sugar cane.

"Seaweed biofuel could be very important in future energy production," said Dr. Adams. "What biofuels provide that other renewables such as wind power cannot is a storable energy source that we can use when the wind drops." Future work will improve the viability of the process by identifying and extracting high value substances, such as pigments and phenols, before the rest of the seaweed is used to produce biofuel.




We have a lot of water around us. Perhaps this is something we should explore as a region.

[Sirius]

I agree this is something we should be looking at. More than that, we should be doing R&D for it. Truth be told though, knowing how we operate we won't do it until someone else does.

[greall]

I agree this is something we should be looking at. More than that, we should be doing R&D for it. Truth be told though, knowing how we operate we won't do it until someone else does.

Why spent the money to do the leg work now when we can buy the derivatives at buss head prices later... : confused:

Greg

[Redman]

One of the major issues is that the plants that do the conversion have to be spec 'd to suit the feed stock.

So variability in your feed stock is a MAJOR issue that needs to be overcome, it plays HAVOC with your throughput in terms of quality and even quantity. nature however is not that exact and variances in the environment lead to variances in the composition of the bio mass.

SO the kelp might have to be mixed and then pelleted in order to standardize the feedstock



Later

[kemist]

One of the major issues is that the plants that do the conversion have to be spec 'd to suit the feed stock.

So variability in your feed stock is a MAJOR issue that needs to be overcome, it plays HAVOC with your throughput in terms of quality and even quantity. nature however is not that exact and variances in the environment lead to variances in the composition of the bio mass.


That's exactly why we need to do R&D specifically in Caribbean waters. The conditions here would be different to other parts of the world. The type of seaweed we have may also be different. We can also explore obtaining ethanol and biodiesel from other marine microbes and organisms (e.g.marine algae).
With enough information, the processing would not be 'havoc'. Of course things needs to be taken in small steps; firstly an evaluation study is needed to assess whether it can be done- this, we would have to do ourselves because we cannot rely on foreign studies.

[Redman]

There are alternative sources that are in production -jathropa and e grass provide sustainable sources with resilient qualities and short growing time(in the case of the grass).

The chinese govt has been sponsoring LATAM labs to research into algae as a source of feedstock and are really looking into non GM sources of COOKING oil. The research is some what synergistic-but AFAIK theyve yet to make an economic break through.


Later

[straphanger]

as long as they are sure it doesnt interfere with marine life and the homeostasis of the ocean....sounds promising

[miktay]

as long as they are sure it doesnt interfere with marine life and the homeostasis of the ocean....sounds promising No one can be sure of this.New technology solves some problems but creates new challenges...many of them unforeseen.Hydro and wind were considered environmentally friendly sources of energy.Hindsight had shown that this is not true.

[straphanger]

correct...i should say greatly interfere

[Randall]

I don't think any large corporation cares about the homeostasis of the ocean. :(


as long as they are sure it doesnt interfere with marine life and the homeostasis of the ocean....sounds promising

[straphanger]

:(

[miktay]

I don't think any large corporation cares about the homeostasis of the ocean. :( The ocean bigger and badder that any known corporation...