Green house gases to...

[Dredly]

Amazing! just saw a show on Modern Marvels where power plants that expell CO2 and their waste water into "troughs" (think big tubes) full of Algae, the Algae uses the dirty water and the CO2 to grow at amazingly fast rates, then the Algae is harvested, turned into bio-diseal and ethanol fuels and cattle feed.

Granted it will take a huge amount of algae to filter out all the CO2 that is generated from the power plants however what an amazing idea... using a negative, wasted by-product to have a huge benefit on the environment.


http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12834398/

what a cool idea that could quickly address a number of the issues present with the country today.

[-JD-]

Then the algae can be used as fuelstock or feedstock.

This is actually a form of solar, implemented through a biological instead of a electronic/electro-mechanical form.

[Dredly]

yup exactly! What a cool idea that addresses so many of america's problems.

With using this as feed and also a crop for fuel creation we can change the current farm land that is used for that to making food crops, significantly reducing our dependence on foreign foods, we get the stupid "Green energy" bullshit to stop complaining as we would continue using what we already have established...

it just seems like such a "no shit" solution to so many of our energy related problems.

[ungawa]

Umm... You guys do understand that when the Algae is used for biofuels and/or fed to livestock that it ultimately emits the same CO2 to the atmosphere that the power plant would have? Plus the extra CO2 from energy required to process and transport the algae. And the office and sales staff

But if it is efficient, it could increase the energy output per pound of CO2 emitted, which is good if you are into that sort of thing. Basically you are taking CO2 from a power plant, using solar energy (Algae) to reconstitute the original carbon energy, and then emitting the CO2 to the atmosphere as usual. You won't get the same energy you did the first time (burning fossil fuels) but you might pick up some.

If it's cheaper than solar energy from photovoltaic panels, and if you don't like CO2, then go for it.

But it aint cheaper than nuclear. Ah, yes. Nuclear, the elephant in the room. Bad, bad nuclear that the people in Europe and the Far East use. It creates very small amounts of waste that must be stored. It's not politically correct, it has killed or sickened at least 5000 people since 1946 on a planet of 6 billion people.

Oh - wait a minute, I forget... Is the world coming to an end or not? Oh, Yes, the world is coming to an end, so the safest cheap source of energy is completely unreasonable.

[Mohaa Player]

No thanks, I rather keep burning rubber with my gas powered engine.
P.S. Al Gore can kiss it where the sun don't shine.

[Dredly]

Umm... You guys do understand that when the Algae is used for biofuels and/or fed to livestock that it ultimately emits the same CO2 to the atmosphere that the power plant would have? Plus the extra CO2 from energy required to process and transport the algae. And the office and sales staff

But if it is efficient, it could increase the energy output per pound of CO2 emitted, which is good if you are into that sort of thing. Basically you are taking CO2 from a power plant, using solar energy (Algae) to reconstitute the original carbon energy, and then emitting the CO2 to the atmosphere as usual. You won't get the same energy you did the first time (burning fossil fuels) but you might pick up some.

If it's cheaper than solar energy from photovoltaic panels, and if you don't like CO2, then go for it.

But it aint cheaper than nuclear. Ah, yes. Nuclear, the elephant in the room. Bad, bad nuclear that the people in Europe and the Far East use. It creates very small amounts of waste that must be stored. It's not politically correct, it has killed or sickened at least 5000 people since 1946 on a planet of 6 billion people.

Oh - wait a minute, I forget... Is the world coming to an end or not? Oh, Yes, the world is coming to an end, so the safest cheap source of energy is completely unreasonable.

Never said anything about Nuke, I was just pointing out out a very interesting new technology that will work with existing infrastructure without requiring trashing all the current plants and starting new.

[ungawa]

Never said anything about Nuke, I was just pointing out out a very interesting new technology that will work with existing infrastructure without requiring trashing all the current plants and starting new.

The nuke thing wasn't aimed at you. Algae farms, processing, marketing, distribution, and biofuel production and/or point of use modifications is not existing infrastructure. As for that supposition that "it will work," what is the goal that is being satisfied and at what cost?

I was just pointing out that it will emit the same CO2 as the powerplant normally would (with some increase of energy hoped for) and that there is already a cheaper solution that emits no CO2.

[Mtbkski]

For you folks on the coast line. Time to pack it in and move.

Scientists Warn of 'Irreversible' Changes By JAN M. OLSEN, AP

Hundreds of leading scientists warned Thursday that global warming is accelerating beyond the worst predictions and threatening to trigger "irreversible" climate shifts on the planet.
Saying there's no excuse for inaction, the nearly 2,000 climate researchers meeting in Copenhagen urged policy-makers to "vigorously" implement the economic and technological tools available to cut emissions of heat-trapping greenhouse gases.

Their stark message came at the end of a three-day conference aimed at updating the findings of a 2007 report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change before U.N. talks in December on a new global climate treaty.
"The worst-case IPCC scenario trajectories (or even worse) are being realized," the scientists said in a statement. "There is a significant risk that many of the trends will accelerate, leading to an increasing risk of abrupt or irreversible climatic shifts."

The climate change panel predicted a sea level rise of 7 to 23 inches by the end of the century, which could flood low-lying areas and force millions to flee. But more recent research presented at the conference suggested that melting glaciers and ice sheets could help push the sea level up at least 20 inches, and possibly as much as 39 inches, or about 1 meter.

"Recent observations show that societies are highly vulnerable to even modest levels of climate change with poor nations and communities particularly at risk," the statement said.

It noted that policy-makers already have a range of tools to mitigate global warming. "But they must be vigorously and widely implemented to achieve the societal transformation required to de-carbonize economies," it said.
The conclusions of the congress will be presented to politicians when they meet in Copenhagen in December to discuss a new global agreement on greenhouse gas emissions to replace the Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012.

"We know from scientific evidence that climate change is a reality and that climate change will have damaging effects on the economy all over the world," said Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen, one of the politicians attending the scientific conference. "Therefore we need an agreement and we need an agreement this year."

[Mtbkski]

Last post. I forgot to add. This should give you all the water you need to grow your algae.

[Dredly]

Last post. I forgot to add. This should give you all the water you need to grow your algae.

SHHHHHHHHHHHHHH DON'T TELL THEM!!!! (We'll miss you California, NYC, New Jersey... good luck breathing water!