Algae and/or switch grass as future fuel sources?

Question

Recently I've been seeing and hearing things about the use of other renewable resources for fuel production. Algae has been said to double in size in a day and as far as it's growth rate, we can grown zillions of tons of it here and make non-polluting fuels from it. I've heard similar things about some grasses as well. In contrast, I've heard lots of bad things about ethanol and the impending doom that corn crops grown for all the wrong reasons could possibly bring. What the heck is our government up to?? I find this really scary.

I'm really embracing the idea of alternative, renewable, clean fuels and what they can do to help our environment, economy, and give us freedom from foreign oil dependance. I'd like to know what others have heard and what you think about these ideas. Thanks!

Answer 1

I don't know about Algae, but there is already some research regarding switch grass. From what I understand it's technically a weed and will grow just about anywhere.

Answer 2

There is another alternative as well. Biodiesel from phytoplankton esp. diatoms. I was listening to NPR the other day and this man was creating biodiesel fuel from the lifecycles of plankton. He has created a small amount and is planning on creating 57 gallons of it to drive across the US with instead of using gasoline.  He wants to get the energy to create the fuel from the plankton by using solar panels. It sounds very interesting you should check it out! BTW the biodiesel is alot heathier and better than regular gasoline for your car so that is also awesome.

Answer 3

I can't say what direction we'll ultimately go, but there are lots of agricultural products and byproducts that show promise, plus the research to get more energy from them is progressing.  From the standpoint of agriculture, one of the most promising biofuels has got to be byproducts; for example, using corn stalks, etc, to produce ethanol.  This would certainly cut the cost of production and take pressure off the corn market since essentially the producer would be getting two crops for the price of one.  One of the downsides, as I understand it, is storage since the stalks and etc take up a lot of space.

I also don't know where the research is on this technology-regardless, ethanol doesn't seem to be the 'whole answer' since at this point the entire corn crop could only provide about 20% of our fuel needs, from what I have read recently.

On the other hand, sugar cane ethanol produces 8 times as much energy for the same input as what we get from corn.  I'm not suggesting that we start raising sugar cane, only commenting on the potential yield that improving technology may result in acheiving.

It will be interesting to see where we are with alternative fuel sources in ten years.

Answer 4

Ethical and Methanol are both very good fuel sources. The problem is in land management. We can grow corn, Firmest it then use is for feed or other products. Switch grass can be fermented then the residue used to fire boilers to make more fuel. Algae can be fermented then used for feed also The main problem is finding a cheap source of fuel to boil off the alcohol. Solar energy and several other things are being looked at.

Answer 5

The main trouble with trying to grow our petroleum resources is, we in America do not live on the Equator.  I think Brazil grows something like 85% of their petroleum needs, but that is not going to happen in countries that get less intense sun.  Ethanol is a bad idea being held up by politics.

Answer 6

All of the sources you mention can help but any bio fuel will compete in some way with food production. They all need accessible land and lots of water.

Answer 7

Yes, and switch grass and other sources give even more ethanol than corn, but seeing as there are many more and much wealthier corn growers than switch grass growers in Iowa, where the first presidential primary is, unless we get someone who'll stand up to these guys and just tell them "we're going with switch grass period", I don't see this making much of a difference.