Not everything tried or promising will work out.

To bad that Robert Rapier thought that this process would be such a savior and that he feels that his life force depends so much upon it being successful.  I hope that he is larger than this set back.  This is experimental work, we should tie our furtures to such experiments.

Last October I had dinner with one of Berkeley's more outspoken sceptics on biofuels. He said people were always hitting him with, "Yes, but how about biodiesel from algae?" He would then patiently explain that what works in a test tube does not necessarily scale up well to a commercial-size facility. It seems that he was right.

Thinking more about your comment, I guess I would say that it's not really a shame---I think what is a shame is that we seem determined (collective we, not necessarily present company) to keep latching onto visions of magic bullets that will slay the need to change, and we defer change in behavior until each one is shown to be, in fact, just another piece of lead.

So the sooner these magic bullets are investigated and shown not to work, the better, because it means that we'll start dealing with the real technological hurdles (the ones between the ears) sooner.

"An optimist is someone who thinks this is the best of all possible worlds. A pessimist is someone who is afraid that the optimist is right."

Heh, blind optimism only lasts for so long.

I got hooked on the concept of algae when I came to Grist.  Not being able to choose between the potential of Electric cars versus Algae powered cars.

I was able to find out however that everything besides Algae would be far too devestating to follow through with.

Looks like the one lone liferaft supporting biofuels just got popped.

_

So Electric it is.

A technology that has not only been shown to be technically possible, but has been on the road proving itself for decades.

This is the type of thing we need to tell our legistlators.

Not only are conventional biofuels bad now, but they also have no future.

And that they need to cut investment and focus on electricity.

Pretty much one note from you JMG.

What that post by Fireangel really points out is that the DeBeers operation in SA is a scam.  There is an arm of it in Montana too.

The claims made and lack of actual performance make closed bioreactor algal biodiesel seem impossible.  With a 50 year payback on the polycarbonate bioreactor tubes used, that would have to be replaced due to UV degradation in 15 years.

Even the expert you linked to points out that closed bioreactors over 100 bucks per square meter can never work economically.  He says under 10 dollar per square meter open ponds might be economically feasible.  Failing to mention the deal breaker, contamination by algae strains that don't have high oil content.

How about closed bioreactors that use good old, cheap, uV resistant glass and durable concrete tanks? How about bioreactors for less than 20 bucks per square meter? How about if they cogenerate heat and electricity and purify and recycle water?

 Hmmm. R and D is needed yep, I agree with that ending part of his statement.

But your one note conslusion.  Another wondertoy debunked, is not justified.  Nor does the expert conclude that.

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The real question there being.

How much more effective would Algae be as compared to an abiotic H2Car style program.

Essentially,
Hydrogen from electrolysis
+ CO2 from power plants
= Liquid fuel

_

And while Algae may be possible, I doubt it would be as effective as making serial hybrid electric cars.

I'm hoping to be wrong about how dire our situation is.  The best way I can think of to make that happen is to operate like I'm right and help people see that it's not too late, even if the wondertoys never arrive.

Meanwhile, I think you have this burden thing backwards--it's the people singing about the next big thing who have to show that it's real, not the people who've seen plenty of them come and go without ever actually panning out.

Since none of these wondertoys are here reducing CO2 emissions today (global emissions are climbing, and the energy reserves needed to accomplish a cutover to a more sustainable path are shrinking) the burden is on the people writing about all this stuff to show that it's more than hot air.

I'll gladly eat a hat for every wondertoy that actually pays off and makes a difference.  Meanwhile, time is extremely short--since there's no ejection lever on this flight, we need to change course NOW.  If the wondertoys come out of fantasyland and into reality, then hey, great!

"An optimist is someone who thinks this is the best of all possible worlds. A pessimist is someone who is afraid that the optimist is right."

Carpools can slow down oil depletion.

Not as sexy as green pond solar cars but far more effective, fast ROI, and employs existing technology without subsidies.  Side benefits include lower fleet maintenance and lower gasoline costs.

Nothing will work like serial plugin hybrids, that's true.  It's the only breakthrough that is ready now that can stop gas guzzling.

With mass adoption of that fuel saving technology, oil would hold out long enough to advance battery technology so that synthetic fuel will never be needed on a scale anywhere near present gasoline and diesel consumption.

As that expert says though, it's still worth pursuing algal biodiesel. Why?

Because it's the most efficient plant for photosynthetic energy conversion.  All it's energy goes into making more algae.  No roots, leaves, branches,complex reproduction.

Integrated with other solar technology, concentrating PV, heat collection, solar distillation and with biogas digestion and fuel cells it can be part of a system that feeds on the waste stream, captures GHG, and prevents GHG release from the waste stream.

With clean water, organic fertilizer,and a renwewable backup electric power source for other harder to store renewable energy sources like wind and solar as very valuable byproducts.  Along with the biodiesel of course.

Symbiotic systems that all fit together and use the complex biochemistry of bacteria and algae to reduce the land footprint of energy production  to rooftops and over parking lots.  Land already dedicated to human activity.  

And simultaneously reduce the human carbon footprint to an insignifigant portion of the  planetary carbon cycle.  A carbon footprint that can be erased by turning devestated chemical farmland into organic farmland.

10% of present GHG from internal combustion based transportation energy would be possible to truly offset, by absorbing it with organic farming that sequesters it in a restored soil ecosystem.  Building soil year after year as it did on the prairies before sodbusters came along.  

20+ feet of soil instead of a chemical dustbowl ready to break out with the next GHG drought cycle.  Restored aquifers that resist drought.  It's possible with organic fertlizer and methods used on a mechanized industrial farming scale.

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