UK Starts World’s Largest Algae Biofuel Initiative
Great Britain hopes that algae-based biofuels can reduce automotive and aviation emissions by 2030, and cut overall emissions by 80% by 2050.
While food-based biofuels are taking the heat for rising food prices, other solutions - like algae - are gaining a more serious following. For example, the UK’s Carbon Trust has announced plans for a project to make algae bio-fuels a commercial reality by the year 2020
But the situation is much more than some “food vs fuel” finger pointing. The fact that transport accounts for one-quarter of the UK’s carbon emissions is major driving factor - pun intended: it’s also the fastest growing cause of carbon emissions in the UK. If the government’s target to reduce overall emissions by 80% by 2050 is to be met, then initiatives like this are crucial.
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The UK isn’t the first country to try such a monumental undertaking. There have been major efforts in the past to develop algal biofuels on a commerical scale. Multilmillion-dollar projects funded by the US government during the 1980s found high biomass yields were definitely possible. The research fizzled out when no one found a way to make the product commercially competitive with the low petro prices for that era. One word - FAIL!
Large scale programs were also tried in Japan, but also to no avail.
The Carbon Trust forecasts that algae-based biofuels could replace more than 70 billion litres of oil every year. They hope to have the initiative in full effect by 2030. In carbon terms, this equates to an annual savings of more than 160m tonnes of CO2 globally!
The first stages of the project include investing in British companies involved in promising algae research.
“You can make algae with a very high oil content and you can make algae that grows very quickly and, at the moment, no one can do both,” said Robert Trezona, R&D director at the Carbon Trust.
It will take a multitude of approaches to fully realize the potential of algae. “There are many more different algae species than there are higher plant species so each algae will require specific effort. Each one will have its own peculiar requirements to figure out how to make them productive, how to get the right strains, how to harvest and process them. We cannot just depend on one or two companies.”
The second phase of the project starts around a year later and involves scaling up the algae-growing operation. The Carbon Trust will build multi-hectare open ponds to act as laboratories for the most promising algae technologies identified from the previous stage. Due to the UK’s gloomy weather, these will most likely be built abroad. This phase of the project could see the Carbon Trust, and interested partners from industry, investing up to £20m.
“If you I’ve got 12 months a year of warmth and sunshine, your algae farm just produces much more biomass. In a world where costs will be important, UK algae farms would have a real problem,” said Trezona.
Mark Williamson, innovations director at the Carbon Trust, said: “We must find a cost-effective and sustainable alternative to oil for our cars and planes if we are to deliver the deep cuts in carbon emissions necessary to tackle climate change. Algae could provide a significant part of the answer and represents a multibillion-pound opportunity.”
So no need to burn your autos just yet, folks. Well…unless of course McCain wins. I don’t think even algae can save us from Sarah Palin’s energy expertise.
Image source: Jef Poskanzer on Flickr
Can’t believe you made me read all the way to the end just to understand the significance of the picture of the car on fire. One thing I’m a bit confused about though, how do biofuels reduce CO2 emissions? Burning them still produces CO2 doesn’t it, or am I being really thick?
“Burning them still produces CO2 doesn’t it, or am I being really thick?”
Yes, but the CO2 it produces was taken out of the air to grow the algae, so it’s just re-releasing it resulting in no net increase in CO2. In that way, algae would simply serve as an avenue to store solar energy in a liquid form.
Dramatic pictures of burning cars to draw attention to an unrelated article, only to close the article with a biased political rant?
Yeah, that’s real journalism!
(Notice how that took all interest in the meat of the article away? Good work, Gonzo!)
“unless of course McCain wins. I don’t think even algae can save us from Sarah Palin’s energy expertise.”
80% of global population thinks as you!!!!! ;-D
Re: Bransby
Good question, and what Tim Cleland said. Sorry I made you read all that to get the car joke, it just didnt fit anywhere else and I been dying to use that photo for 3 months!
Re: LonnieB
Oh, the picture is completely related. It might take some dot connecting…but it’s there. I swear.
Yes, that political rant is disgustingly biased. That is why I saved it for the end, I didn’t want to soil the meat of the article with it.
But as the US uses 25% of the world’s oil, our next administration plays a huge role in this initiative.
Re: Carlos
Yes, well let’s hope that most of that 80% is in the United States! How are these election polls even close?
Well, Jerry< i re-read the article and I saw no dots connecting a burning AMERICAN vehicle (check the license plate) to an article about a BRITISH initiative.
Nor do I see any connection between McCain/Palin (two AMERICAN politicians) and that same BRITISH-based article.
If I seem harsh, it’s because I have grown extremely sick of yellow journalist who oh-so-wittily inject their own limioted political agenda or opinion into stories that should be reported honestly, completely and without journalistic bias.
As a journalist, do you need to be reminded of the public trust placed in your profession? My own daughter is a broadcast journalist in the U.S. Army, and based on her expeiences in Iraq, Kuwait and GITMO, she absolutely despises civilian journalists. She reagrds them as no better than ambulance chasing lawyers. I can’t argue with that.
It would be wonderfully refreshing if American journalism would regain the high road of truth, accuracy and fair balance in represnting a story.
I won’t hold my breath though!
See, still not the interest in your story, due to irrelevant political bias, that it SHOULD have generated. Did you accomplish your goal?
re: LonnieB
I did accomplish it, thanks! And thanks for reading…
Originally, I was simply browsing the article, to see if anything it interested me. I saw nothing of real interest until I stumbled upon your biased political snarky remark. I only re-read it more thoroughly because you swore there were connecting dots. I saw none, and quite frankly, I could care less about British fuel initiatives.
So your goal was to distract from the article? Or was it to irritate your reader with your political bias?
Spin my response anyway you wish. Thanks for perpetuating the “agenda-driven journalist” stereotype. Good way to instill confidence and trust in American journalism.