ALTERNATIVE FUEL SOURCE: Can we use the Algae in Chinese waters to develop carbon-based fuels?

Question

Has anyone seen the news broadcast about the massive tons of Algae floating in Chinese waters, and how many volunteers are helping to remove it, for the Summer Olympics in Beijing?

I wonder if any of this could be used to develop alternative fuels in addition to ethanol-based gasoline. Some countries are already using sugar-based ethanols and corn-based fuel. Why not this Algae, there is a huge surplus of it?

Is it theoretically and chemically possible?

Jasmine 215

Answer 1

i was JUST TALKING ABOUT THAT YESTERDAY!

Answer 2

Chinese people know how dangerous chinese water is...

Fuel from Chinese algae will kill more people breathing the air...

Answer 3

Algae can and should be used to make fuel. All the fuel humans need can and should be made from algae. It is easy to grow and costs very little and it removes pollution.

Answer 4

if that was true...USA would be killing the chinese jus to have it for themselves you kno that we are bully's right?

Answer 5

It's already being done, here in Florida, and the guy that developed the system can produce 10,000 times the biomass per acre than the current plant products that we are using to produce biodiesel.

The name of the company is New Green Technologies and his name is Craig Huffman.  I met him at the Green Earth Expo in Orlando last month.

Answer 6

anything possible

Answer 7

one man's garbage ,is another man's treasure. I am sure there is a use for it.

Answer 8

Your on to something there. Chinese officials belive there is 260 million tones of the stuff in the race area. Bio fuel has been made from algae with success. I don't know how much bio fuel the chinese algae would make but it would have to be better than making it out of the crops of poor countries.

Answer 9

i think we should just use the chinese lol

jk

Answer 10

If we were to harvest sea plants, not just algae, from areas of the oceans that are called dead zones, areas that produce so much vegetation that the decomposing vegetation cause death of all animal life, we would have hundreds of times more biofuels than all we currently manufacture,

Blue-green algae have a special value in that they manufacture their own nitrate fertilizer, and enough to fertilize large volumes of other plants.  We need to harvest the algae along with the other plant matter.

These masses of algae are a problem because they are not being harvested in appropriate volumes.  We seem to have lost most or all of our baleen whales that at one time ate so much of it.

Answer 11

were already using it, its called petroleum or oil.

most of the worlds oil was formed from algae that thrived in the worlds oceans during 2 extremely warm periods 90 million & 150 millions years ago. the thick layers of algae that were trapped in & under sediments that turned to rock were gradually turned to petroleum under great heat & pressure.

when you burn oil your actually burning ancient algae.