I’ve written about algae biofuel a number of times before (see links at the end) and it is definitely a topic that really interests me. I’ll be honest, the idea of growing crops - that could be used for something else - on prime agricultural land for the purpose of making fuel just seems a little out of whack to me.
Ideas like cellulosic and algae biofuel on the other hand just seem to make sense. I think the algae technology in particular holds a special appeal for me due to my background in aquatic biology. I have spent a great many hours with my eyes glued to a microscope, staring at all sorts of algal species, and have always found them to be fascinating organisms - but I certainly never imagined that they could offer so much potential!
Just some of the advantages of using algal biofuel technology include: 1) incredible space-efficiency (far more fuel can be produced per unit area), 2) no soil requirements 3) no fresh water requirements 4) certain algal technologies have even been designed to absorb CO2 from smokestacks!
As exciting as the possibility of harnessing algae’s potential has been, it still seemed like one of those technologies that everyone talks about, and looks great in the lab and on paper - but something nobody is brave enough to actually try commercially. Well, it looks as though that is no longer the case! I caught a post over at EcoGeek that gave me reason to feel optimistic.
Here is an exerpt (link to follow):
Green Fuel Technologies just announced they had begun construction of their commercial scale algae plant while PetroSun announced they’d be taking their pilot algae farm commercial on April 1st.
Now, this obviously isn’t ethanol, with millions of gallons of production…or even cellulosic ethanol, with a wood-waste to fuel plant ready to go online this year, but it is a big deal.
It’s a big deal because algae don’t just create energy from the sun…they create energy from the sun more effectively than anything else save photovoltaic panels. And, as you may have guessed, they’re a heck of a lot cheaper than photovoltaic panels. Green Fuel Technologies is adding another environmental advantage, planning to hook their algae bioreactors up to the smoke stacks from power plants.
The following press release was passed along to us by Elizabeth Aguillera, from the Midwest Renewable Energy Association.
Contact:
Amy Heart, Programs Director
Midwest Renewable Energy Association
715-592-6595 x20
amy@the-mrea.org
Nation’s Premier Energy Education Event Set for June 20-22, 2008
Custer, WI – The Midwest Renewable Energy Association announced the dates for their annual Energy Fair. The MREA is gearing up for their 19th annual Energy Fair, June 20-22, 2008.
Each summer the Energy Fair transforms rural central Wisconsin into the global hot spot for renewable energy education, with about 20,000 fair attendees each year. The Fair is the nation’s largest and longest running energy education event of its kind.
Features of the 2008 Energy Fair:
Over 250 exhibitors - featuring sustainable living and energy products
Over 200 workshops - from introductory level to hands-on education
4th Annual Clean Energy Car Show - featuring demonstration vehicles and workshops
New features for 2008 include the Green Home Pavilion and Sustainable Tables area
2008 Keynote Speakers include Jim Hightower and Torbjorn Lahti
Fun family atmosphere!
The MREA’s Energy Fair is the premier energy event in the nation. “Since 1990, attendees from around the world attend our Fair to learn about sustainable living and clean energy and connect with others,” said Amy Heart, MREA Programs Director. “Fair attendees go home with the tools they need to change the world.”
The Energy Fair is held in Custer, WI just seven miles east of Stevens Point, Wisconsin. For more information about the Fair, contact the Midwest Renewable Energy Association at 715-592-6595 or visit the website: www.the-mrea.org.
There’s no doubt that modern technology has played a major role in the advancement of the green movement. Never before in the history of mankind has it been so easy to share important information with countless others and inspire global change.
Of course, these great strides forward don’t come without costs.
Not only is a staggering amount of energy required to power everything, but with each passing day more and more e-waste is produced.
As important as the issue is, the IT industry (and related technological sectors) doesn’t seem to get nearly the same amount of coverage as many of the other environmental offenders such as the oil industry.
Thankfully, it seems as though things are starting to change. More focus is being placed on the environmental impact of the computing industry, and more and more companies are making an effort to lessen their impact.
As a person, who sits in front of a computer all day and is fully immersed in modern technology in general, I’m very eager to see some major green changes in these fields.
Needless to say I was very pleased to receive an email this week from the folks at GreenBiz.com, announcing the launch of their new website: GreenerComputing.
Here is an exerpt from the email:
As you well know, the environmental issues related to information
technology — computers, printers, servers, and all the rest — have come
under heightened scrutiny lately. Some of the concern has to do with the
growing power consumption of all this equipment. (Factoid: A single
high-powered rack of servers consumes enough energy in a single year to
power a hybrid car across the U.S. 337 times.)
Another concern is e-waste — what to do with unwanted electronic goods.
Much of it is being shipped overseas, where the equipment is dismantled by
cheap labor, often with disastrous health and environmental consequences.
And then there’s the toxicity of it all — the witch’s brew of hazardous
materials found in most of today’s IT equipment.
Fortunately, there are solutions, with new products and processes emerging
on a regular basis. That’s what we’ll cover on GreenerComputing.com and in
GreenerComputing News.
This is only a sample issue. You must sign-up to subscribe. It’s free and
easy. You need only click on the link at the bottom of this page that says
“Update Profile/Email Address.” From there, follow the instructions.
If you aren’t yet sure, no problem. We’ll send you several more issues to
help you decide.
Of course, feel free to pass this along to colleagues (such as those in
your IT department) who you think might be interested.
Thanks. Let me know what you think of GreenerComputing, and how we can make
it useful in your work.
– Joel Makower, Executive Editor
I’m definitely looking forward to keeping up to date with advancements in greener computing technology.
It’s amazing being able to inspire change and be inspired ourselves from the comfort of home, but we always need to remain mindful of the associated costs.
I found a great article over at CNET, talking about biodiesel entrepreneurs. According to the article, the demand for green automobiles is on the rise and used car dealers are carving a niche for themselves by selling biodiesel-ready autos. Around the US, dealerships are popping up offering middle-class drivers with biodiesel vehicles like, VW, Mercedes and Honda.
It looks like the advertising method of choice for these new biodiesel entrepreneurs is the Internet. They are using their own web sites and classified sites to lure potential buyers. A few dealers have a physical, more traditional, auto lot.
From CNET Article:
After undergoing modifications that cost as little as $50 or as much as $2,000, diesel cars can chug either petroleum-based diesel, crop-based biodiesel, vegetable oil from the deep-fryers of fast-food kitchens, or even a combination of the three.
One of the businesses mentioned in the article is a company called BioBling. I love the name and the concept. I headed over to the website and had a look at what they offer. According to their site, “Biobling connects conscious people to green cars and clean, renewable fuel to run them.” They earn 10% of acquisition cost to locate a car and connect customers with a biofuel distributor. The customer is responsible for buying the car and any shipping fees. Drivers who want to add a little “bling” to their ride, can have Biobling add items like flat screens/DVDs, custom paint, new wheels, etc (all at an additional charge).
If you get a chance, have a read through Biobling’s Ten Commandments. I enjoyed the third commandment, “Thou shalt not covet they neighbour’s gas-guzzler.”
I recommend our readers head over to CNET to read the article.
To learn more about Biodiesel, you can head over to the US National Biodiesel Board website or head to the Canadian Renewable Fuels Association website.
One of our readers sent us an email a few days ago looking for information on electric cars from my last post on Green Pizza. I have emailed Galactic Pizza and will hopefully hear back from them soon. I did a quick search on the Internet to see what I could come up with.
The first website I headed to was Wikipedia I highly recommend that if you are looking extensive information on BEVs, that you head over to Wikipedia.
According to Wikipedia the definition of a Battery Electric Vehicle is:
A vehicle that utilizes chemical energy stored in rechargeable battery packs. Electric vehicles use electric motors instead of, or in addition to, internal combustion engines (ICEs).
BEV Stats (according to Wikipedia): • More energy-efficient than all internal combustion vehicles
• Reduce dependence on oil
• Produce no exhaust fumes
• Produces minimal pollution if charged from most forms of renewable energy
• Some BEVs are capable of acceleration exceeding that of conventional gasoline powered vehicles
• Electric vehicles typically cost between two and four cents per mile to operate, while gasoline-powered ICE vehicles currently cost about four to six times as much
Dynasty Electric Car Corporation designs, manufactures and markets zero emission, electric Low Speed Vehicles (LSV’s) for urban, recreational and light commercial markets such as planned and gated communities, destination resorts, industrial complexes and universities.
Feel Good Cars, Toronto, Canada, is a leading developer, manufacturer and supplier of electrically powered vehicles. Driven by quality, ingenuity and the goal of bringing the finest zero-emission vehicles to the market, the company combines global technology with a North American vision for the future. With real-world experience in marketing, finance, electric vehicle manufacturing and automobile manufacturing, the Feel Good Cars team is dedicated to meeting the needs of environmentally and cost conscious consumers.
I received an email from my good friend Cory yesterday, pointing me in the direction of an article he thought might inspire a post here on the blog.
Cory and I are both eco-conscious, and we enjoy getting together for a good brew (or two) whenever time allows. So needless to say I wasn’t overly surprised when I saw the title of the article: Beer maker, scientists to create energy
I’m always on the lookout for ways that beer drinking can help save the world, so I was certainly happy that Cory sent the link my way!
So what’s the scoop?
Australian Beer Maker Fosters are teaming up with a group of scientists to generate energy from brewery wastewater via the action of sugar-munching bacteria.
Here is a blurb:
The complex technology harnesses the chemical energy that the bacteria releases from the organic material, converting it into electrical energy.
The 660-gallon fuel cell will be 250 times bigger than a prototype that has been operating at the university laboratory for three months, Keller said.
“Brewery waste water is a particularly good source because it is very biodegradable … and is highly concentrated, which does help in improving the performance of the cell,” Keller said.
He expected the brewery cell would produce 2 kilowatts of power — enough to power a household — and the technology would eventually be applied in other breweries and wineries owned by Foster’s. The cell should be operating at the brewery by September.
OK, so we certainly won’t be seeing cities powered by beer anytime soon, but this technology should provide some great options for making breweries much more sustainable themselves. And of course there must be a considerable amount of sugar-rich wastewater being produced by various food industries, so lots of possibilities there.
The Ontario government has approved a plan to build a huge solar farm near Sarnia, according to an article on CBC.ca. The 40 megawatt installation is expected to be online by 2010.
Thanks to the provincial “Standard Offer Program” the government now pays 42 cents/kwh for approved solar energy projects, thus making this a sound business venture for the company in charge of the installation (Optisolar).
Here is a blurb:
The project would be the largest in North America using photovoltaic solar cells, which collect energy from the sun’s rays and convert it into electricity.
It’s also larger than any other existing solar-cell plant in the world, although a number of projects underway would surpass or equal its size. Construction of a 40-megawatt project in Germany is already underway, and last fall, the Australian government announced funding for a proposed 154-megawatt solar power plant to be built in Victoria state and expected to be fully operational by 2013.
Power plants using solar energy and operated in the Mojave Desert generate more than 300 megawatts of power, but those plants are powered through solar thermal energy, a different form of power generation that collects the sun’s rays and uses them to heat a liquid that then acts to produce electricity.
The Sarnia solar farm was one of 14 new alternative energy initiatives announced by the government to add more than 107 megawatts of power to the grid. Two new water-power projects with Ontario First Nations were also announced.
VANCOUVER — Prime Minister Stephen Harper brought his environmental campaign to Vancouver yesterday, giving British Columbia nearly $200 million for projects aimed at reducing the emission of greenhouses gases, including a “hydrogen highway” demonstration project between Vancouver and Whistler with a network of hydrogen fuelling stations for fuel-cell-powered cars and buses.
“Over the past decade, engineers based right here in Vancouver have made important contributions to the development of increasingly efficient and economically viable hydrogen fuel cell,” Harper said during a news conference at the University of B.C.
However, he said further development of hydrogen-fuelled vehicles has been stymied by a lack of fueling infrastructure, and the hydrogen highway project will show how such a system can work.
“This initiative will showcase the technology for the world, and for the visionaries here at [the Institute for Fuel Cell Innovation], it will be just the first stage of the world’s first international hydrogen highway stretching all the way from B.C. to California.”
B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell, who attended the announcement, said he will be meeting California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger this week to discuss the project.
Wow - this has definitely been our worst week since the Christmas break! Very sorry about that. Busy schedules combined with a wee bit o’ winter blues (we got hit yet again this week) certainly hasn’t helped inspire us!
Anyway, this morning I decided that I needed to get something up before we completely fall into a rut here, so I started digging through recent green headlines (btw, I’ll post our next ‘Green News’ installment tomorrow). It took some time, but I did manage to find an interesting story in the Toronto Star.
Apparently a couple of researchers have found a way to efficiently produce hydrogen gas via the fermentation of dehydrated wastewater-sludge pellets.
Here is an exerpt:
The idea of producing hydrogen from municipal waste water isn’t new, but controlling the amount of hydrogen produced has proven tricky. One problem is that sludge contains bacteria that produce hydrogen and bacteria that consume it, so the net yield tends to be much lower than its potential.
“In order to maximize production you need to kill all micro-organisms that consume hydrogen,” said Youssouf Kalogo, a researcher at Hamilton-based environmental consulting firm Hydromantis Inc. Doing this, however, means boiling the sludge – an energy-intensive process that proves uneconomic.
Kalogo, along with former University of Toronto professor David Bagley, who now teaches civil engineering at the University of Wyoming, realized that another option was to spike the primary sludge with dried sludge pellets. It turns out that the process of making the sludge pellets kills off the bad microbes and preserves the good ones.
The two scientists conducted an experiment, the results of which will soon be published in the peer-reviewed journal Bioresource Technology, which showed that pellets obtained from Ashbridges Bay were an inexpensive, practical, and renewable source of microbes for generating hydrogen from sludge.
“This is general research that can be applied to any waste-water treatment plant, and it’s a totally new approach,” Kalogo told the Toronto Star. “We know that the pellets already exist in plants, so why can’t we use the pellets directly as a source of micro-organisms?”
The hydrogen that’s produced could be used in a fuel cell to produce electricity and heat for the treatment facility, with any surplus power being sold back into the grid.
Sounds quite interesting! I actually have access to Bioresource Technology (journal) online so I will definitely keep my eyes peeled for this study and will report back if I find anything worthy of mention.
Wow - the possibilities for biofuel production are seemingly never-ending!
A former abattoir in northern Scotland is pioneering a new source of biofuels - dead cows.
The Oran Group is turning the site at Kintore in Aberdeenshire into a biofuels installation which generates electricity from burning cow by-products supplied by local abattoirs, including blood and bonemeal.
General manager Ben Ballantyne told the BBC one major energy-saving aspect of the plant was the fact that the biomass fuel had previously been transported hundreds of miles away to be processed.
The Oran group hopes to have the plant up and running in three years with a rendering facility at the plant adding to the production of biomass.
It estimates that the eventual energy output will be enough to power 9,000 homes.
Scottish deputy first minister Nicol Stephen said: “This is an exciting project that will help Scotland reach its target of producing 18 per cent of our electricity by 2010 from renewable sources.”
