Train Wheels And The Curves

biopetroleum: Biofuel from algae

The "bio-oil " a green fuel made from algae , could be one solution to the uncertain energy future, and that at current rates, experts believe that oil reserves would be exhausted in about 50 years.

Companies such as Aquaflow Bionomic Corporation of New Zealand, or the English Bio-Fuel System develop projects in which the algae are the main source for producing such organic oil .

Made from phytoplankton , emerges as an alternative to biofuels such as ethanol, one of the leaders of the global food crisis.
to produce bioethanol, for example, is necessary to use large amounts of energy for transport of the crops and caring for the earth. "If you get that energy from fossil fuels, just emitting more CO2 than they emit simply using gasoline car, "said Hartmut Michel, Nobel Laureate in Chemistry, in an interview with English newspaper El Pais.

" To produce one ton of sunflower oil, which corresponds to nine million kilocalories, you have to spend 19 million kilocalories for the cultivation, processing (...). This shows that in the end, emits more CO2 than twice a fossil oil, "said the president of the English company.

algae production used for fuel production is not new. A late 70's, the United States launched the so-called "Aquatic Species Program" due to the oil crisis.

" use the algae because it is an efficient photosynthesis system . Recovered one hundred percent solar energy, as with other biofuels, retrieves a small part of the plant ."

Now the main problem for these producers of "bio-oil" is to find which species with the highest density of oil and producing more fuel.
"There about 40 000 recorded species of algae, but there may be a hundred thousand. The problem is not so easy to grow algae, and access process, "said the president of Bio-Fuel System.

Another major difficulty is that the algae contain a large amount of water which leads to difficulties in maintenance, transportation and handling. The truth is that " in the oceans is the world's largest biomass " and there are algae, a green oil which, according to its advocates, could be capable of replace fossil oil.