Pingreen is the environmental club of the Pingree School. Our goal is to educate our community on environmental and sustainability issues. Feel free to comment or if you would like to be an active contributor, contact Mike Furnari at: mfurnari@pingree.org to be added to the list of authors.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Energy from Algae!
Exxon Mobil recently partnered with Synthetic Genomics, Inc. They are developing ways to harvest energy from algae as a fuel source for cars. Algae consumes high amounts of CO2, which would help reduce the amounts of greenhouse gases. Algae reproduce quicker and be more efficient to grow than crops like corn or soybeans.
Some algae biofuel facts:
Bio-oil produced by photosynthetic algae and the resultant biofuel will have molecular structures that are similar to the petroleum and refined products we use today.
If successful, bio-oils from photosynthetic algae could be used to manufacture a full range of fuels including gasoline, diesel fuel and jet fuel that meet the same specifications as today’s products
“We believe that biofuel produced by algae could be a meaningful part of the solution in the future if our efforts result in an economically viable, low net carbon emission transportation fuel,” said Emil Jacobs, ExxonMobil’s vice president of research and development.
Exxon and Synthetic Genomics are planning to continue their research and testing for the next 10 to 15 year and expecting to spend over $1 billion.
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