EADS, the parent company of Airbus, has made a successful test flight with a plane which was completely driven by fuel from algae. As airline companies and airplane manufacturers are looking for alternative fuels to aviation fuel because of rising oil prices and climate change, more and more test-flights are being scheduled with alternative fuels. It is not the first test that was done with fuel based on algae. In the past multiple test flights were held. What differs this one from all the rest is that this was the first test flight solely on algae-fuel. The test flight revealed that algae based fuel is more efficient than conventional fuel. The company wants to have a regular test route in use by the year 2015 to further test with alternative fuels. The future goal of the company is to have at least one out of every ten planes fly on biofuels by the year 2030
I think the idea of biofules to fuel planes is really interesting. Replacing expensive, environmentally harmful, and nonrenewable fossil fuel with plentiful, climate-change-friendly algae seems great and very reasonable in that it not only will benefit buyers, as it would mean cheaper resources to fuel planes, but also earth, as consuming it would not release harmful chemicals into the atmosphere.
ReplyDeleteI think that using algae in replacement for jetfuel is an excellent idea. It's easily renewable and not a costly substance. It could have other benefits as well, because people might start preserving wetlands and ponds to grow the algae on. I think it would be great if we could test this friendly fuel alternative on cars and boats as well.
ReplyDeleteThis seems like a great solution to the fuel problem with transportation. I agree with ciara that using algae fuel should be used in cars, buses, boats, ect... But the idea seems too perfect to be true. I wonder what the downsides of algae fuel are I have heard that in cars amount of algae needed to run a car wouldnt fit in the car. I hope this idea is as perfect as it seems and our fuel crisis is solved.
ReplyDeleteWell I find this idea of using algae as airplane fuel to be very interesting. Thousands of people use planes each day and there are hundreds of flights, releasing vast amounts of CO2 in the atmosphere. If we were to use algae, we could reduce all of this CO2. If 1 in every 10 planes used this fuel, we would reduce CO2 emissions released from airplanes by 10 percent. This is also a more efficient fuel, so planes would be able to go farther and use less fuel.
ReplyDeleteLike everyone has said I believe that this is a great idea, but, I am curious about how the algae is grown to produce this bio-fuel, it may be worse than just flying the plane on normal gasoline, but then again it may not be. If it is not, the amount of CO2 emissions would be reduced by 10% and would help the environment greatly
ReplyDeleteLike Arun, I wonder about how the algae is grown. Assuming that it is in an eco-friendly way I believe that this idea would help the environment a lot. Considering how many planes are flown every day, I think one plane being flown with algae as fuel out of every ten, would be a significant reduction of the emissions of carbon dioxide.
ReplyDeleteI agree with John on this. That I think the idea is brilliant but I onder what the dowside could be. But hopefully with more tests, they can make sure all the problems are fixed, and get this ecofriendly ful going in more planes!
ReplyDeleteI think that this is a great idea since airplanes create a lot of emissions. Also, because of the tests it seems safe. I just wish that algae fuel could be used sooner rather than in 20 years.
ReplyDeleteI'm VERY impressed with the student comments on this post. Many of you recognize the possible benefits to developing this biotechnology but are aware of and are thinking about potential problems and dangers too. That type of "critical" thinking is going to become increasingly important as scientists race to develop new solutions for meeting energy demands. We must have people willing to step back from apparent successes and consider the possible drawbacks, side effects, negative consequences of each new technology.
ReplyDeleteRegarding some of the questions, the algae that is developed to produce biofuel is not grown in the natural environment. Special "algae farms" are constructed because, in order to produce enough oil, the algae species must be exposed to very bright light sources 24 hours a day, they must be grown in massive amounts in small and manageable spaces, and they must be harvested often. Several biotech companies (one based in Cambridge) are trying to genetically engineer algae species by inserting genes from other organisms that will allow the algae to grow bigger and faster and synthesize more oil than normal and do it using less light. If successful, that would be a technological boon for algae based biofuel production. However, I am personally very wary of genetically modifying small, quick (assexual) reproducing organisms. My fear is that if even one such organism escapes into the natural world, it will immediately out compete the unmodified species and negatively affect the ecosystem; and it would be an irreversible mistake, a panora's box situation in which humans would be unable to remove the invasive GMO from the environment.
One such example of this is the accidental release of a genetically engineered aquarium plant called caulerpa taxifolia into the Mediterranean sea. Entire aquatic food chains have collapsed as a result and there is no effective way to control the organism.
Great comments from all of you! Keep thinking, keep researching, keep discussing! :)