See also: Oilgae Blog Article Directory for a complete listing of all Oilgae blog posts - covering news, research and updates on biodiesel from algae & other plant feedstock, ethanol, and other renewable energy such as wind energy, hydrogen, hydro-energy, tidal/wave energy, geothermal, solar energy & nuclear energy
We must wean ourselves from the fossil-fuel habit
This is an excerpt of an article by Thad Box.
Edited for brevity...
"
...I studied oil shale during the 1970s. President Nixon appointed me to the Oil Shale Advisory Committee...We observed many attempts to extract oil from shale...
...I concluded we were lucky kerogen was tightly bound in rock. Otherwise, we would just burn it.
...With the high price of gasoline, people lust again after the 3.3 trillion tons of oil shale in the West. Past promoters created ephemeral booms and devastating busts in the West...
..."oil" in shale is not what we normally think of as oil. It is kerogen, a complex and waxy substance formed primarily from prehistoric algae. To convert it to fuel, shale has to be mined, kerogen extracted and then converted to oil.
...When gasoline reaches about $3 a gallon, the process is marginally profitable.
...Energy efficiency is one of the two major issues arguing against oil from shale. The other is environmental damage.
...The shale processing process gives a net energy loss, would take large amounts of water from agriculture, and also increase air pollution.
The greatest long-term societal cost is probably environmental damage. A close second is loss of a valuable future resource - kerogen. The complex chemical structure of kerogen makes it an ideal candidate for material that scientists could use in making useful products such as shoes, automobile bodies, airframes, floor coverings, skin-protection films etc...
...Instead of subsidizing any use of fossil fuel, we should move full speed ahead in a "Manhattan-type" effort for alternate energy sources.
...Maybe we're fortunate we cannot easily extract oil from shale.
"
Oilgae - Oil & Biodiesel from Algae
Oilgae Blog
algOS - Biodiesel from Algae Open Source
Oilgae - Oil & Biodiesel from Algae provides links, directory, web links resources for algae-based biofuels & biodiesel. Intended to be useful for research, information, inputs, news for buyers, sellers, manufacturers, traders, suppliers, producers, exporters / importers of algal oil and algal fuels. Will provide info on biofuel feedstock, algal feedstocks, algae oil and link details on fuel from algae, bio-fuel, bio-diesel, algal oils & bio-fuels production and uses, biofuels trade & market resources, price data, statistics, prices, demand-supply for buyer, seller, manufacturer, trader, supplier, exporter and producer
No comments:
Post a Comment