Pond scum could provide next alternative fuel

[OKIsItJustMe]

http://www.ktka.com/news/2008/apr/14/pond_scum/

Pond scum could provide next alternative fuel

Story by CNN, Miles O'Brien

5:35 p.m. Monday, April 14, 2008

"This is where the magic happens," Vertigro inventor Glen Kertz said.

Kertz believes he has the magic bullet alternative to oil: pond scum, but without the pond. That's what sets his idea apart.

Kertz is flowing and growing algae through a long-winding journey in clear plastic bags suspended in a greenhouse. He calls the system Vertigro.

"It keeps the algae hanging in the sunlight just long enough to pick up the solar energy they need to produce to go through photosynthesis," Kertz said.

...

(Follow the link for more & video.)

[NCDem60]

1. Good idea but

I worry if there will be enough Republicans to meet our needs.

[Spinzonner]

2. Yeah, I sorta had the same reaction

I thought about Soylent Green

[since72]

3. Too slow

Damn, your fast. That was a straight line that just screamed for a response.

[TygrBright]

4. What, they gonna chain * and Darth and the Rumty-tum-tum to bikes hooked up to batteries? n/t

[sam sarrha]

5. the Algae is 1/2 oil, the other half can be used for food, feed or bio-mass th make methane..

it is being designed to pump the co2 stack waste from energy plants to make food and fuel while removing the co2.

Omaga3fatty acids are produced by plankton/algae the fish have to eat it to store it,

[whistle]

6. Maybe pond scum is the true source of fossil fuel especially crude oil

...grow the stuff and pump it under ground and let it set for a few million years

[OKIsItJustMe]

8. No need to pump it underground and wait so long

...

The algae grows fast, and is siphoned off continuously. The algae oil is extracted ready to be refined into fuels like biodiesel.

Kertz says he can produce a 100,000 gallons of algae oil per acre per year. Corn yields about 20 to 30 gallons an acre.

...

[eppur_se_muova]

9. Diatoms are believed to be the source of much petroleum.

The "geological" processing scenario is only one approach, obviously slow.

[Dead_Parrot]

7. What, Greenpeace has solved the energy crisis? Yeah!

edit: Oh, that pond scum. Oh well.