Review nº 8

Name: Cristina Soledad Guzmán
Source: www.guardian.co.uk.
Date of publication: Thursday July 31, 2008


Review nº 8: Article “ ‘Oil from algae’ promises climate friendly fuel “

Although it is widely known that nowadays new sources of energy are needed, the problem is who and how are they going to be obtained. The article “ ‘Oil from algae’ promises climate friendly fuel “ from The Guardian newspaper, states that a new biofuel has been created from algae. It does not pollutes the environment and seems to be promising.
A company in San Diego claims to have developed liquid fuel made from plants which would be a sustainable version of oil, called “green crude”. This company uses single-celled organisms such as algae to produce a chemical mixture from which it is possible to extract fuels for cars or airplanes. When it is burned, the fuel only releases into the air the carbon dioxide absorbed by the algae during its growth. Algae are seen by many experts as promising a source of green fuel in the future because they are the world’s most abundant form of plant life. And via photosynthesis, they are extremely efficient at using sunlight and carbon dioxide from the air to make organic material. The resulting gasoline is completely compatible with consumer’s cars. An added advantage is that their gasoline does not have contaminants that are contained in standard crude oil. There is no need to use valuable farmland to grow the algae, it uses non-arable land and non-potable water. A U.K. scientist claim that algae con easily be grown in open ponds, but these results in very low-density blooms and are therefore an inefficient way to produce lots of fuel. At this respect, some photobioreactors are being tested. Byproducts other than oil can also be obtained, such as products for animal feed.
This article describes a new source of biofuel obtained from algae and it results to be promising because it does not contaminates the environment. At this respect I am in favor of this kind of experiments and I think governments and societies should support them. And as the author says “ algae were responsible for creating the long-chain hydrocarbons ... that formed crude oil” I think it well worth to be investigated as the most natural source of energy.
In conclusion, although many sources of energy are being tested, such as this new “green crude”, yet no sources have been created in large scale. So this issue should be taken into account more seriously in order to make it true in short time and not to keep it stored in a laboratory as another futuristic experiment. Basic to this is the economic support of governments.