Algae to Diesel: The Next Big Thing?

I’ve posted about Algae Systems before and am glad to see the New York Times picking up on what is going on in Mobile Bay.  Besides having an interest in another tool to slow the saturation of the atmosphere with CO2 I have a personal interest: my brother is part of the development team. [The big floating greenhouses are his design and implementation.]

…a Nevada company, Algae Systems, has a pilot plant in Alabama that, it says, can turn a profit making diesel fuel from algae by simultaneously performing three other tasks: making clean water from municipal sewage (which it uses to fertilize the algae), using the carbon-heavy residue as fertilizer and generating valuable credits for advanced biofuels.

If it works, the company says, the process will remove more carbon from the atmosphere than is added when the fuel is burned.

NY Times:Matthew Wald

Hope this proves out… the preliminary, 1/2 scale model seems to be working. Now, on to a full-scale beta, perhaps on a Pacific island which needs an energy source and can provide warm water, human waste and not too many hurricanes!