Green Crude Biofuel: Amazing Algae
Motoring Channel Staff - 4/June/2008
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Green Crude Oil - the answer to the petrol crisis?
Using algae byproducts to create high octane fuel
could be the new mainstream vehicle energy source
Solution To Soaring Fuel Prices?As crude oil
prices keep rising and shows no sign of dropping - or even plateauing -
the strain is showing right across the globe. We live in an incredibly
oil-dependent world - almost everything is linked to it - so that when
prices soar, the ramifications affect everyone, everywhere. The
advent of algae-derived 'green crude' is likely to make the
Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) take notice,
and could herald a monumental shift in the way we source energy for
transport. This green crude has a remarkably similar chemical
make-up to sweet crude oil, and instead of drilling for steadily
depleting and increasingly expensive resources deep in the Earth's
crust, it can simply be grown on demand. Increasing fuel prices
could be a thing of the past if green crude passes the impending
environmental and cost effectiveness tests. -
Feann Torr, Editor
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California, America — Has the future of fuel production been sighted? With
petrol prices being the key issue facing global economies today, a new
type of biofuel that can replace petrol is making waves in
scientific and corporate circles. American company Sapphire
Energy is honing the method of creating a new petroleum
substitute fuel, nicknamed 'Green Crude', from a combination of waste
water, algae, and sunlight. It is neither ethanol nor biodiesel, has a 91 octane rating and petrol engines need no modifications to use the fuel. For
the past few years many universities and research groups have been
able to develop fuels from algal byproducts, but Sapphire Energy
appears to be the first to have mastered a relatively efficient way of
doing it. Sapphire
Energy's Chief Executive, Jason Pylem, told the L.A.
Times "What we're talking about is something that is radically
different. We really look at this as a paradigm change." Pyle said that existing oil refineries could process the green crude which could then be used to fulfil transport fuel needs. According
to the company's website: "Sapphire Energy has built a revolutionary
platform that uses photosynthetic microorganisms to produce a
renewable, high-value replacement for fossil fuel petroleum. This
domestic crude oil requires only sunlight, CO2 and non-potable water
– and can be produced at massive scale on non-arable land." The
jury is still out what kind of exhaust emissions the new green crude
creates, as no scientific authority has tested the new biofuel as yet. But
the new algae-based biolfuel's emissions (once combusted) are
believed to be less harmful to the environment than using ethanol to
fuel cars. Reaching
the final ethanol fuel product
involves growing crops, maintaining land, harvesting and then
refining the product. As such, it has 'hidden' CO2 outputs, and has
been labelled wasteful. Some experts warn that ethanol
production is contributing to the global food crisis
as farmers receive more revenue for ethanol-related crops than for pure
food crops. This new algae-based petrol substitute appears to be a much simpler process with far less CO2 output related to its refinement. To
prove the effectiveness of the new biofuel, one of the Californian
company's employees, Brian Goodall, highlighted the reliability of the
fuel to potential investors by completing a trans-Atlantic flight on a
plane fuelled by Sapphire Energy's new green crude fuel. Until
now there has been very little investment in the new energy source over
the past five years but things are rapidly changing. Investors
are seeing dollar signs from the development of this new biofuel, and
already Sapphire Energy has secured large outlays ($50 million)
from a trio of venture capitalists and some charities. The company is
still private, but with all the investment it could go public before
long. Another company developing biofuels, called GreenFuel
Technologies, has also jumped on the bandwagon and claims to be
developing a big budget facility to produce a similar eco-friendly
algal-derived product in Europe. More news when we get it. Related articles:
- Ethanol
& E85 Issues (2007)
- Volvo
Bioethanol 'Flexifuel' Cars (2007)
- Website: Saphhire Energy
- Website: Green Crude Production
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