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By Ashwani Kumar | December 25th 2009 09:57 AM | 2 comments | Print | E-mail | Track Comments
About Ashwani

Professor of Botany, Department of Botany, University of Rajasthan, Jaipur. 302004, India

Born 1946 (Bandikui) Rajasthan, B.Sc. Agra...

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Algae: The New Oil

It's renewable, does not affect the food channel and consumes CO2

Oil prices are rising again, and they’re going to continue to do so. We’re already seeing it at the gas pump. The foreign oil and gas we have depended on for generations has turned into a dangerous addiction. The U.S. holds less than 2 percent of the world's oil reserves, and we now import 60 percent of our oil from foreign sources. The point was recently made that, at current rates of supply and demand, by 2030, 50% of the oil supply would come from OPEC nations.

By investing in renewable energy in the United States, we will reduce our dependence on foreign oil, become energy independent and create new green jobs - and algae is one solution that takes care of all three! We need to add the most practical renewable jobs, here in America, so we can replace the oil and gas we import from places like the Middle East and Venezuela with clean, renewable, American power. A nation that doesn't depend on others for a vital commodity is a strong country. And that's what America needs to be.

The National Algae Association is well aware that we will still need a supply of oil and gas as we work toward energy independence, and the petroleum jobs in the United States are going to remain and flourish. But Henry Ford’s first car is a far cry from what we are driving today. We know that algae strains, raceway ponds, closed-end loop photobioreactors, harvesting and extraction systems developed and built today will be different 3-5 years from now. We are all in this together, and we all need to work closely together to help t he US reduce its dependency on foreign oil, become energy secure and create new green jobs. Algae researchers in the US need to work side-by-side with algae producers. Algae strains, production and equipment have been researched for over 35 years in the US. It is now time to fast track the commercialization of this industry. So, what are we waiting for?

The NAA is all about Collaboration + Innovation = Commercialization! NAA’s mission is focused on fast-tracking commercialization of algae. Supporting the National Algae Association is supporting America’s future. Our quarterly conferences are attended by producers, equipment manufacturers, researches, and scientists, along with members of the legal, investment and financial communities. NAA’s quarterly conferences are not panel discussions looking down at the algae industry from 30,000 feet. We are at ground level - presenting and discussing the technologies, processes and equipment that are currently available or under development. We collaborate and share our efforts to move algae into commercial-sale production.

National Algae Association
4747 Research Forest Dr., Suite 180
The Woodlands, Texas 77381
936.321.1125
www.nationalalgaeassociation.com

Comments

rholley
It not just the USA that is into this.  India is also active.

However, you may have a fight on your hands.  In the article Bengal takes lead in fuel from algae, it is written:

"Algae yields a very high amount of bio-fuel compared with jatropha or soyabean because almost the entire algal organism uses sunlight to produce lipids or oil. Studies show that algae can produce 60-80% of their biomass in the form of oil," said professor Sarajit Basu, the mentor of the project and an expert on bio-fuel.

I would guess, though, that algae may not be the best option for dry Rajasthan.

Robert H. Olley
Physics Department
University of Reading
England

Ashwani Kumar
Global problems can be solved with local solutions and while Algae  is good for Bengal, Jatropha is good for Rajasthan. Plants of semi arid regions are more suitable for biomass yield and productivity.

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