The following post comes to us from guest blogger, Lori Guner, of San Diego.
Vertigro Energy, a joint venture of ecotechnology companies, Valcent Products Inc. and Global Green Solutions, has begun producing algae as a potentially revolutionary source of biofuel. Valcent’s High Density Vertical Growth system maximizes algae growth in a closed loop, vertical system. The production of the algae only requires light, water, and air. In addition to biofuel, the oil derived from the algae can also be used in foods, feed stocks, pharmaceutical supplies, and beauty products. The algae production system has several advantages over traditional biofuel and boimass crops and production:
- the process burns no fossil fuel
- exponentially less acreage is used in production than traditional biofuel crops like soy, palm oil and corn
- doesn’t require arable land or compete with food crop growth
- requires limited supplies of water (closed loop system)
- high yield
- much lower cost than traditionaly biomass crops
- no pollution from fertilizers or pesticides
Vertigro’s production of algae may also aid in reducing greenhouse gases produced by other companies. When the algae is produced near certain power plants, manufacturers, and refineries, the algae will absorb the CO2 emitted by those facilities. Need another reason to love Vertigro’s new biofuel? It’s cost-effective!
Get more info @ www.valcent.net, and be sure to click on the video. This technology appears to have great potential.
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What a fantastic process, I see a big future in this. If we don’t do something soon just think were the oil companies will have us.
Will someone please give Bush a tour of this place , and explain (very slowly) how it works
Another reason why hydrogen is doomed. Safer and uses the existing infrastructure we already have.
Hey Pete:
Isn’t it so easy to demean the President. Doesn’t it make you feel just Soooo good. Hey, by the way, are you the President? Do you have an MBA from Harvard or was it just easier for you to slam others because your political opinions are just Soooo superior.
Its sad. You can and should disagree with someone. You may intensely dislike them however, it is simply ignorant arrogance to be so supercilious and condescending.
Since you are obviously a know it all lib, you are oblivious to the fact that George Bush has never, ever once insulted, denigrated or diminished Nancy Pelosi or even Harry Reid. Are you telling me that they are ‘quicker studies’ than the President. Oh, of course you are….How could I know that. Because you are obviously a kool-aid drinking lib.
Sad. Its called being arrogant in your ignorance.
I don’t especially care for some of the President’s policies and, if you had any discernment, rather than your phony arrogance, you’d quickly see that by diminishing others, you diminish yourself. Keep on reading the Daily Kos there pal. You’re really an individual thinker and, since you are obviously an intellectual of the highest caliber, then go read Levinas and see what he has to say about the rhetoric you are attempting so poorly to use.
A fantastic process no doubt!! But someone tell me “what does the algae feed on? What does it convert and change into oil? A plant on wet sand but no nutrients will not do very well! Does the algae thrive similar to spanish moss? Gunter, March 22-2008
open pond operations may be more economical. About a 1,000 acres of old shrimp farm went into operation 1 April to produce oil from algae in the open pond. Don’t bother the Bush and Cheney crowd. Anything that cuts revenues to the Saudis.
See chapter on feedstocks for ethanol-marine algae can be taken from dead zones in Mississippi and Gulf of Mexico with plants strategically located there.
http://www.alcoholcanbeagas.com?bid=2&aid=CD8&opt=
I would be curious to hear the arguments against this concept.What I’ve read makes this look like a no-brainer.I know it can’t be this easy.The trouble with being a cynic is that 90% of the time your correct.
Tom are you related to Bush, on his payroll or other? Relax, take a big breath and accept that a few people dont like that kind of slime (not the algae). You seem to be a sad and frustrated if not constipated individual.
I look forward to the patent holder of this product living to a ripe old age and changing the world. However I doubt that will happen with Chevron, Exxon and other purely ethical corporations around.
I started a blog devoted solely to Valcent and their Vertigro technology. I’m bullish on their approach but havent yet brought myself to invest in their penny stock. But I’m thinking about it.
Hey Tom, sounds like you’re a real individual thinker using phrases like “kool-aid drinking lib”, straight from Bill O’Reilly’s lexicon, as well as other right-wing talking heads. Sticking up for George Bush is just a tough road, the facts of his record are just indefensible! Also, David’s got it right when he mentions “Chevron, Exxon and other purely ethical corporations” — these companies will kill to keep their business models relevant. Please respond, discourse is the cornerstone of democracy.
Hey Tom:
You should remember when you said “You can and should disagree with someone. You may intensely dislike them however, it is simply ignorant arrogance to be so supercilious and condescending.” And then note that your immediate next statements, without a breath, were to call the author of another post “ignorant”, “arrogant”, “supercilious”, “condescending”, “know it all”, “lib” (as in liberal, which, by your tone, you intended to be an insult), and “oblivious”. After a brief breath, you continue with your insults, calling the author “kool-aid drinking”, lacking discernment, and full of phony arrogance.
It was you, sir, who said “that by diminishing others, you diminish yourself.” By your own standards, you have diminished yourself. By conducting yourself in the exact same manner you chastised another for, you have clearly demonstrated that you are a hypocrite.
Having proven yourself to be a hypocrite, your opinion lacks integrity, character and value . Now that you have had your opportunity to spout-off, you can return to silence and leave discourse, open discussion and intellectual debate to those who have not made themselves irrelevant.
Tom, you could generate ample supply of biogas if you could just ferment your constipated mass locked up inside your biogenerator.
Chevron, Exxon and other oil companies are the reason we have high gas prices? We have closed all of our coastal areas to exploration – we are the largest consumer of oil in the world and we can’t even look in our own front yard for oil! Thank you Congress! Even the Cubans (with the help of China) are drilling closer to the US than our own companies are allowed to. Oil drilling/production can easily be done in and near sensitive environmental areas. Just look at what is going on in Norway. They have drilling rigs and platform right in the middle of wildlife sanctuaries. We should give it a try.
A game that’s been rigged to keep us addicted to fossil fuel is the reason we’re in this fix. There are plenty of players exploiting the situation. Increasing refining capacity would eliminate one bottleneck but nobody wants a refinery in their backyard.
Drilling in protected wildlife areas in Alaska will take years to see any results and Exxon and its Big Oil buddies don’t have Norway’s environmental record. Other problem, we have the oil industry writing our energy plan which a change in regime may change. Time to move in a different direction and take control of our energy policy by reducing consumption and creating alternative energy sources and technologies. Cheaper gasoline isn’t the answer, using less of it is.
Hi Folks,
I believe you all are correct in many ways considering our current dilemma with energy consumption in America. I would like to make a couple of points that may provide some discussion. First of all, putting the oil companies out of business might impact you more than you care to know. The current percentage of ownership the major oil companies are pension plans, mutual funds, and private stockholders. Only a very small percentage of the companies stocks are held by the stuff shirt, black suit fat guys. (About 1.2%) Pensions and mutual funds make up, if memory serves me, around 78% with the balance held by folks like you and me. Secondly, the drive today in the price per barrel has several heads, an increase in world comsumption, speculation, and of course supply and demand. For years we have not really had much competition for oil and not many gave it a second thought. With the emerging markets (industrialization) in India, China, and other part of the world, oil has become a very important resource. In the end we will benefit by this bitter and painful transition to cleaning, efficient, and renewable fuels. At $140.00 a barrel, it will spur the wheels of change and innovation to a better world. My advice is to think smart, conserve, and support and administration that has a green thumb. The oil companies are. They are already changing to enthanol and biofuel.
Easterday,
The oil companies will survive. Oil prices will drop as algae supply comes online and they will match it. We will never get off oil unless algae is cheaper than oil can be pumped.
And even if they should go out of business, pension funds will just invest in other stocks, perhaps these algae stocks. NO problem.
As for any offshore drilling or in Anwr,according to the US energy department, it will take until 2025 till we see any affect in the price from drilling off our shores and even then the price affect will only be .04-.05/gal. Big deal.
Let’s take an even more indepth look at oil. It is in no way a free market. Over half the oil in the world is subsidized to the consumers in oil producing and developing nations. What’s free market about that. What about a major cartel like Opec limiting production. Then we have the oil companies restricting supply by closing about 25 refineries over the past 10-15 years to increase margins. Check out Sen. Wydens report of his investigation into this matter. The oil companies 2 years ago in a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee also said they had no intention of building any new refineries. It’s not because communities don’t want it. Some do, especially in poor economic times with the need for jobs and high oil prices. It’s because it’s cheaper to build and run refineries in other countries. By the way, the products of those offshore refineries can be sold to anyone, not just us. Whomever it is more profitable for them to sell to.
We’re leaving some things out of this discussion. We can become completely energy independent with this fuel and have jobs that can’t be exported. It can be grown anywhere in the country. We can eliminate a major part of our trade deficit and help the value of the US $. We can cut of funding to terrorist organizations by switching to this fuel. We can impose a sustainable embargo against rogue nations like Iran forcing them to give up nuclear ambitions and their terrorist activities. Also something off point but interesting in how algae can become a another foreign policy tool but it seems Iran also harbors internet identity theives. By threatening their revenues with such an embargo we can force them to give these people up as well. We can spend much less militarily stabilizing the Middle East. Why would we even need to be in Iraq?
Amazing all the things algae can help us accomplish and help us in other areas. Aalcent and their partner Global Green solutions plan to come to market with this technology in 2010. I can’t wait.
I wouldn’t buy either of these stocks just yet but I’m definitely keeping my eye on both of them.
All countries could produce their own algae-based fuel. Only the far northern and far southern ones would suffer due to heating their facilities.
Sounds like this has tremendous potential. I imagine that one of the the main stumbling blocks to wide spread implementation is that most any farmer in any areable part of the world can easily and inexpensively convert their crops over to those suitable for ethanol production (with disregard for all the drawbacks of that) but to implement vertical algae growth would presumably require a huge investment and specialized skills and equipment. Hopefully Vertigro will also be able to devise a lower tech version (perhaps the pond method mentioned by another) for use in 3rd world and small application settings.
we need to focus on the potential of the algae grow systems, not who is in office or even if they support it or not.
i had been on a blog in the pickins plan supporting this and there are several nay sayers who say it won’t work or “supposedly”ran the numbers them selves and make a big deal out of evaporation.”They won’t even look at you tube videos on the subject because they cite that quoting you tube is a step below wikipedia.
I personally support this and know this is eventually going to be the major step in America’s energy independence
who am I?
one voice like the rest of you that have a god given right to express your opinion whether you agree with it or not.
We need to make energy independence about us not politics,about how we hope t will save us money in the long term because it is renewable.
unless algae oil producers come up with some story of ravenous water locust ate our crop and we have to bump up prices on existing cost of fuel my bet is on algae fuel
Talking about demeaning the president, isn’t he a war criminal? or you think he is a god as he has assumed there were no chemical weapons in Iraq?