why? because you have corn farmers with big money lobbiest pulling all the right strings. it's complete bs imo.

anyway, guess who is listening to algae? China and Australia. These countries are actually paying for research in this area... and guess where the idea came from?

here is a link to a study done:

http://www.unh.edu/p2/biodiesel/article_alge.html

 

It's only cheaper because it's being heavily subsidized.

 

narrowed minded? well i bought for the same reason as yourself. why don't you buy a conversion kit to run on E85 then?

 

Need I remind you:

 

And? How is that narrow minded?

Sounds like you should just buy a car that can run on E85 if cheap gas is your main concern.

 

Problem is there aren't any cars out there that is flexfuel and get the gas mileage of a HCH2. In fact the only flexfuel hybrid vehicle out there is a very limited run of Escape Hybrids in some demo fleet.

rupture already doesn't care about the green aspect. So that aside E85 is one way of adding competition to the fuel marketplace for gasoline engines. Big Oil gets subsidies too, you think a lobby as big as theirs didn't get some sweet deals from the gov't either? Let big Agri and big Oil battle it out at the pumps! It diverts their attention from quashing the really good stuff like better batteries or that algae biodiesel thing.

 

E85 not available in my area. But I'd definately look at a conversion kit when it is. I remember 1974, and the long lines for gas. If something were to happen internationally, wouldn't it be nice to have E85 as a safety valve? Isn't a choice of two options better than a choice of one option?

So where can you find these conversion kits? Do they void the warranty? BTW, CA requires ethanol in the gas during summer.

 

I never said I was a major corn biofuel supporter. You're not educating me about lobbyists, nor the issues with using corn. The lobbyist problem in this country is horrendous. That, and big companies funding various campaigns are ruining our political system.
The point is - TODAY, algae appears not quite ready, no matter how high its potential. Soybeans ARE pretty much ready today. We need a solution that works TODAY. If algae becomes a better solution tomorrow, bye-bye soybeans! Without gov't subsidies, capitalism will allow the most efficient {cheaper} method to win out. And I agree we should fund further algea research - and if the gov't won't do it, then an enterprising business should. The potential payback is enormous.
(If ONLY I had a billion extra dollars lying around .)

A few salient points from that good article:
"The point of this article is not to argue that this approach is the only one that makes sense, or that we should ignore other options (there are some other very appealing options as well, and realistically it makes more sense for a combination of options to be used)."
"It's important to point out that the DOE's ASP that projected that such yields are possible, was never able to come close to achieving such yields. Their focus on open ponds was a primary factor in this, and the research groups that have picked up where the DOE left off are making substantial gains in the yields compared to the old DOE work - but we still have a ways to go. "
"biodiesel produced from soy has an energy balance of 3.2:1. That means that for each unit of energy put into growing the soybeans and turning the soy oil into biodiesel, we get back 3.2 units of energy in the form of biodiesel. That works out to an energy efficiency of 320% (when only looking at fossil energy input - input from the sun, for example, is not included). The reason for the energy efficiency being greater than 100% is that the growing soybeans turn energy from the sun into chemical energy (oil)."
"... the potential algae has to offer. The current state of the technology is not yet capable of achieving yields as high as theoretically possible, and the economics need further improvement."

 

Obviously more choices is better. No arguements here. But if you want choices, I think diesel will provide more in the long run. I also think that more diesel cars will be coming to the US in the next few years.

 

I think we are in agreement that as far as yield is concerned, corn is the worst. Pick anything but corn, let's say soybean. It's a real win win.