Oilgae: The Possibility of Growing Oil John Winters

Auto Emissions and the Green House Effect According to the USEPA: “A gallon of gasoline is assumed to produce 8.8 kilograms (or 19.4 pounds) of CO 2.” Through aggregating fuel emissions and average miles driven the average vehicle is estimated to produce 5.48 metric tons CO 2 equivalents.

Auto Emissions and the Green House Effect World Wide Approximately 10.8 % of Green House Gas emissions come from automobiles. In the United States 21.6 % of Green House Emissions come from automobiles.

Possible Solutions … Algae Algae naturally produces an oil similar to petroleum, if this oil can be extracted it can be used as a fuel source the same way petroleum is. The oil can be extracted through the physically through compression or chemically through interactions with solvents or osmotic shock. Oilgae.com

Ongoing Research The synthetic genomics institute is currently developing the process of genetically modifying algae to continually produce oil. According to Dr. James Venter the goal is to “trick algae into pumping more lipids out” so that mass quantities of oil can be harvested and used as a fuel source. environment/14fuel.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx= ff%20GuSG7sxjzxTNvxXPG9A

Benefits – CO2 Reduction Guaranteed to be carbon neutral and can be negative if the excess algae is sequestered. Algae can use carbon dioxide and nitrous oxides as nutrient sources. Algae could potentially be “fed” the waste from a fossil fuel based power plant to reduce the amount of CO2 released into the atmosphere. hmedium.jpg

Benefits – Energy Independence The US is currently the largest importer of oil, most of which is used for transportation.

Scalability Unlike most other potential renewable energy Oilgae has a much larger scaleability, or potential to become a dominant energy source. Easy Growth Conditions Minimal Land Use High Efficiencies 2,000 gallons of fuel per acre of production each year, compared with 650 gallons for palm trees and 450 gallons for sugar canes. Corn yields just 250 gallons per acre a year environment/14fuel.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx= ff%20GuSG7sxjzxTNvxXPG9A

No Infrastructure Change Unlike other proposed fuel reforms Algae Oil would not need to overhaul the existing fuel infrastructure. The fuel could be distributed by the same network of gas stations and used by the same cars. Oilgae.com

What we can do Raise awareness Know the consequences of actions Not use our countries economic status as a excuse

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