http://climateprogress.org/2007/03/27/the-debut-of-deforestation-diesel/ The Latest on Climate Science, Solutions, and Politics Fri, 04 Jul 2008 20:50:40 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.1 http://climateprogress.org/2007/03/27/the-debut-of-deforestation-diesel/#comment-3538 Earl Killian Tue, 27 Mar 2007 14:59:20 +0000 http://climateprogress.org/2007/03/27/the-debut-of-deforestation-diesel/#comment-3538 Producing biodiesel from crops is crazy. Producing it from algae might make sense, since the yield can be thirty times (30x) the yield per acre of crops like soybeans. In the late 1990s NREL found species that are 7.5% efficient at turning sunlight into oil, producing about half of their weight in oil. The original proposal was to grow them in places like the Sonora desert, which has high annual sunshine (and doesn't much compete with crops) and has an agricultural runoff problem that is actually good for the algae. However, the discovery that open ponds wasn't working meant they had to be grown in sealed "bio reactors". Several companies are pursuing commercialization of this technology. See http://www.unh.edu/p2/biodiesel/article_alge.html for an introduction. On reading the detailed NREL report (which is linked at the URL above), it seems that the algae prefer less than full intensity light. Shade biodiesel anyone? :-) Producing biodiesel from crops is crazy. Producing it from algae might make sense, since the yield can be thirty times (30x) the yield per acre of crops like soybeans. In the late 1990s NREL found species that are 7.5% efficient at turning sunlight into oil, producing about half of their weight in oil. The original proposal was to grow them in places like the Sonora desert, which has high annual sunshine (and doesn’t much compete with crops) and has an agricultural runoff problem that is actually good for the algae. However, the discovery that open ponds wasn’t working meant they had to be grown in sealed “bio reactors”. Several companies are pursuing commercialization of this technology. See http://www.unh.edu/ p2/ biodiesel/ article_alge.html for an introduction. On reading the detailed NREL report (which is linked at the URL above), it seems that the algae prefer less than full intensity light. Shade biodiesel anyone?

]]> http://climateprogress.org/2007/03/27/the-debut-of-deforestation-diesel/#comment-3602 Biofuels a Boondoggle? Say it isn’t so! at It’s Getting Hot In Here Wed, 28 Mar 2007 16:49:26 +0000 http://climateprogress.org/2007/03/27/the-debut-of-deforestation-diesel/#comment-3602 [...] From Joe Romm: ClimateProgress has covered one tricky facet of our forests before by looking at how misplaced afforestation can propel warming. Now word is spreading that plantation forests for biofuel and ethanol crops are rivaling natural forests. In the process, clearing the land emits mass amounts of carbon dioxide and the ecosystem replanted to harvest fuel tends to be worse for the environment. [Source] [...] […] From Joe Romm: ClimateProgress has covered one tricky facet of our forests before by looking at how misplaced afforestation can propel warming. Now word is spreading that plantation forests for biofuel and ethanol crops are rivaling natural forests. In the process, clearing the land emits mass amounts of carbon dioxide and the ecosystem replanted to harvest fuel tends to be worse for the environment. [Source] […]

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