Hi all. New to econology I congratulate all your work and all your efforts for this wonderful site.
Some information concerning the interest of micro-algae.
The first time I had to deal with these micro algae was for their exceptional capacity to absorb and assimilate CO2 to purify the air, according to an artist creation for the international biennial of Design in St-Etienne. A Brazilian artist (from memory) who presented a vase about fifty cm in diameter with a funnel opening at its top allowing gas exchanges with the micro-algae contained and minimizing the evaporation of the content. This, to renew the interior air of the accommodation and decorate at the same time. Very interesting. Then later I was amazed at one thing, the use of these algae (like Diatoms) for the production of oil.
Diatoms, like many other algae, can generate between 30 and 75% of their weight in oil. if we study the yields in liters per hectare and per year (l / ha / year), we notice something exceptional compared to current productions:
Corn: 172 l / ha / year
Soybeans: 446 l / ha / year
Rapeseed:
572 l / ha / year
Sunflower: 662 l / ha / year
Coconut: 2689 l / ha / year
Palm: 5950 l / ha / year
Microalgae: 58700 to 136900 l / ha / year
(depending on the oil content of the species: from 30% to 70% (sources
http://www.massey.ac.nz/~ychisti/Biodiesel.pdf ).
Besides this extraordinary source of oil, 100 times more important per hectare than rapeseed, another interesting aspect: 100t of algae would allow during their photosynthesis to fix 183t of CO2! no data for the other plants nor on the duration necessary to reach it, but these algae having a very short life cycle (fast growth and short lifespan, contrary to the plants which are renewed 1 or 2 times per year according to the cycle culture, ...) it is always interesting.
Small comparison (always from this study), to satisfy 50% oil consumption of current hydrocarbons in the United States:
with corn: 1540 M ha of crop
with soybeans: 595 M ha of cultivation
with coconut: 99 M ha of cultivation
with palm: 45 M ha of crop
with algae: 2 to 4,5 M ha of culture (depending on the oil concentration of these algae: 70% to 30%).
besides a very simple question to change the subject. The Diesel engine (from Rudolph Diesel) (1891) was designed to operate with 100% vegetable oil, the main advantage of which (and he did not know at the time) is to produce CO2 which is offset (all or part) by the production culture of this same oil, unlike fossil fuels which are not compensated but which create additional CO2. This oil was replaced by diesel because its cost was much more profitable at the time. hence my question: At $ 75 a barrel of crude, WHAT ARE THE STATES WAITING TO LEGALIZE THE OIL !!! ??? it's stupid as a question but it would reduce energy dependence, CO2 emissions and that would satisfy a number of farmers forced by the EU to leave thousands of hectares fallow with quotas ... ??? !!! !
Go back: (source wikipedia)
1891, Rudolph Diesel is testing its engines (Diesel engines) with HVB. He is convinced that vegetable oil has great potential, just like petroleum and coal. You should know that at the start, the "Diesel" engine was first known as the "oil engine".
1900, the OTTO company presents, at the Universal Exhibition of 1900 in Paris, an engine running on peanut oil
to respond to a request from the French government.
1925, chief engineer of the Maritime Engineering of the national navy is charged by this one to study the possibility of using vegetable oils for its slow engines.
1939-1945, the difficulties in supplying hydrocarbons linked to the Second World War prompted certain regions of the world to develop the use of oil-powered engines. Research will continue in the years that followed
but the low cost of oil and the political orientations of the time put an end to it.
1997,
Valenergol is created and gives a boost to the HVB sector. Only a few years later, this company was sued by customs for non-acquittal of the TIPP (newly known as
Internal Fuel Tax), procedure still in progress in 2006.