Algae: Fuel of the Future

[lame54]

http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/science/04/01/algae.oil/index.html
"Algae is the ultimate in renewable energy," Glen Kertz, president and CEO of Valcent Products, told CNN while conducting a tour of his algae greenhouse on the outskirts of El Paso.

Kertz, a plant physiologist and entrepreneur, holds about 20 patents. And he is psyched about the potential algae holds, both as an energy source and as a way to deal with global warming.

"We are a giant solar collecting system. We get the bulk of our energy from the sunshine," said Kertz.

Algae are among the fastest growing plants in the world, and about 50 percent of their weight is oil. That lipid oil can be used to make biodiesel for cars, trucks, and airplanes.

[EVDebs]

1. Humboldt State Univ has a similar hydrogen generator

http://www.schatzlab.org/trinidad.html

Exciting stuff, isn't it ?

[Lance_Boyle]

2. shares of Valcent (VCTPF) trading at $0.63 today

Supposedly they will have news out of their biodiesel production facility this summer (possibly this month). If they can brew the stuff economically, they're in the money. Problem is, getting the oil out of the algae isn't a simple matter of squeezing it. Cell walls need to be broken with some nasty stuff before the squeeze. Butane, hexane... not the greenest or the cheapest of stuff. But if Valcent can make a gallon of biodiesel for less than what the oil companies are charging for a gallon of dino-juice, they'll take off. Not to mention their other venture - the VertiGro system for food production. Green fuel and sustainable farming... this company will make investors a good chunk of change some day (soon).

[Vincardog]

5. Why can't they just freeze it? Run the goo thru a freezer the water expands the cell walls break

[Lance_Boyle]

8. good question!

I really have no idea, but my best guess would be that freezing is more expensive than chemical breakdown of the cell walls. :shrug:

In other news, Valcent partner Global Green Solutions (GGRN) is up almost 30% this afternoon - from $0.53 this morning to $0.71 now. Wondering what news lies behind that rise... no coverage that I've seen yet.

[Vincardog]

16. check back in a week. If I gt my house sold I may buy a few hundred thousand shares.

[Fox Mulder]

3. Algae is what gives us the bulk of our oxygen...

so we can breathe.

[lame54]

4. He grows his own...

in the middle of the desert

[OmahaBlueDog]

18. And it regrows quickly

The theory is that you have 1 acre pools, grow the algae, harvest it, and start growing the next batch.

[lumberjack_jeff]

22. I haven't read the article yet, but I don't think they use ponds

The algaculture I'm familiar with uses photobioreactors because you don't want contamination with the wrong kind of algae.

[Liberal Gramma]

21. Then using it for fuel might not be a good thing, no?

[gateley]

6. K&R -- Thanks!! nt

[masmdu]

7. Carbon Neutral too...Saphire has a green GAS not ethonol or biodiesel ...same as gas so no need to

change from current I.C.E. technology.

Also, uses waste/dirty/brackish water and non-arable land to get algae.

Thereby not causing the food shortages and expansion of farming into sensitive lands.

http://nextenergynews.com/news1/next-energy-news5.30.08d.html

Also known as "Green Crude"
http://www.greencrudeproduction.com/index.html

This will change everything

[Lance_Boyle]

9. Sapphire has grand ambitions, but no product.

Cracking vegetable oil into the volatile short chains that make up gasoline is no easy task. Hell, getting the moderately short chains that make biodiesel out of it is not trivial. Sapphire is all bluster at this point, though. They don't even offer an explanation as to HOW they might further refine veggie oil, much less how cost effective it could be. Thermal depolymerization can make volatile short chains out of lots of things, but it costs 3 arms and 12 legs to power the process, for a significant net energy loss.

[masmdu]

10. Wrong they do have a product...hardly 'bluster'...and look who's behind them

Sapphire Energy announced today they have produced renewable 91 octane gasoline that conforms to ASTM certification, made from a breakthrough process that produces crude oil directly from sunlight, CO2 and photosynthetic microorganisms, beginning with algae.

http://sapphireenergy.com/press_release/1

Board of Directors

http://sapphireenergy.com/board

Investors (Venrock think Rockefeller family, Apple computer, Intel, etc.)

http://sapphireenergy.com/investors

[Lance_Boyle]

14. still no product

and zero information on how they perform this magic trick of converting algal oil into "gasoline." I can tell you how algal oil becomes biodiesel. Can you tell me how algal oil becomes gasoline? Until you can, I'm writing Sapphire off as snake oil salesmen.

[masmdu]

15. Can you read? I even used bold...."They have produced" = product. Just b/c they won't tell you how

they do it doesn't mean a thing (trade secrets?) Look who is pulling this together. Hardly snake oil salesmen. It will be HUGE!

By the way, you don't own Valcent stock do you? Worried about competition?

[masmdu]

11. K&R

[lonestarnot]

12. That is a renewable energy that shouldn't raise the price of food.

:)

[OmahaBlueDog]

20. ...actually, Corn ethanol shouldn't have raised the price of food as much as it has

Gas prices are also a big driver of food prices

[masmdu]

13. If you are looking for a stock play GSPI.pk is only 00.05 (five cents) a share / Similar to Valcent

However, Neither has the backing or process that Sapphire has. If Sapphire were a publicly traded co. I would be throwing money at it. (See post below for Sapphire info/links)

[rucky]

19. ever hear of PetroSun?

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

17. Does it grow in salt water? So it doesn't use the dwindling resource of fresh water to grow?

We could irrigate a series of ponds in desert regions near the ocean if it will grow in sea water.

[lumberjack_jeff]

23. I don't think they use ponds.

The photobioreactors are enclosed so there's little loss through evaporation.