Algae Against Climate Change

Algae growth in agricultural run off is problematic however the way that algae is seen is changing. From environmental scourge to financially profitable and environmentally beneficial.


The carbon cycle for traditional fossil fuels:
Release carbon by burning fossil fuels to dig up more fossil feuls, which will be burnt and add more carbon to the atmosphere.

The carbon cycle for algae fuels:
Soak up nitrites and other run off commercial farms. Soak up carbon from the atmostphere or better yet from some commercial source of carbon dioxide. Produce Algae.
Energy required to separate algae from water which may release carbon.
Energy required to separate oil from algae which may release carbon.
Ferment and burn remaining biomass to produce ethanol.
Combine ethanol and oil to produce biodiesel.
Release carbon as biodiesel and excess ethanol are burned.

The essential difference is that we are not digging up ancient carbon and adding it the the atmosphere.

"Henken-Mellier calculates that "the capture of just 10 percent of the gases emitted by the Farge plant means a reduction of 600 tonnes daily of carbon dioxide."

According to Thomsen, the area of a greenhouse capable of absorbing the carbon dioxide from a 350-megawatt electrical plant and transforming it into biofuel would have to be 25 square kilometres and would cost some 480 million dollars.

Isaac Berzin, of GreenFuel, says that to capture the carbon dioxide released by a 1,000 gigawatt generate would require an algae greenhouse between eight and 16 square km, which could produce more than 150 million litres of biodiesel and 190 million litres of ethanol.
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The full article is available here.