Monday, January 28, 2008

Biodiesel from Algae

Biodiesel got a little more interesting with the news release from Solazyme about their new biodiesel process that converts algae to fuel. Is it a real green energy solution or more hype? The answer lies in the economics. There is a long ways to go still in commercializing this technology, but Chevron is getting on board. If these advances can substantially lower the cost of creating biodiesel, then we could see this go commercial. I welcome approaches that use algae, cellulose, or other biomass besides food crops. Turning food into fuel just doesn't make sense, in my opinion, and the trend of turning corn to ethanol has helped drive up the price of basic grains for millions. Let's find solutions that are earth friendly and people friendly.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Your lost me at "their"