Originally Posted by xyzdonna  I quote: "An acre of corn can produce about 20 gallons of oil per year, Dr. Ruan said, compared with a possible 15,000 gallons of oil per acre of algae.
An algae farm could be located almost anywhere. It would not require converting cropland from food production to energy production. It could use sea water and could consume pollutants from sewage and power plants."
As they point out it's going to take more research, but the outlook is promising.
Donna |
Sorry Donna. The "15,000 gallons" is a totally ridiculous number. Try 820 gallons as a realistic number.
I guess I didn't get my point across; solar energy is feeble and all "alternate energy" is solar.
Sun energy falling on the US in 1 year: 1 X 10^23 Joules.
Total US energy consumption in 1 year: 1 X 10^20 Joules.
US land area: 1 X 10^7 Km^2.
If you could convert 100% solar to fuel, then an absolute minimum of 0.1% of the US must be covered with solar collector area (solar cells, farmland or algae swamps). That is 10,000 square kilometers or 3,900 square miles. That is more than Delaware and Rhode Island put together.
But wait, it gets far worse. Algae Oil yields 2.4 X 10^13 Joules per square kilometer per year so 4.2 million square kilometers would be needed to meet US energy needs. That is 1.6 million square miles or 42% of the entire US land area covered by a slime swamp! An absolutely Jurassic vision.
Mariss
P.S. Even using your "15,000 gallon" number means covering Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Delaware, Rhode Island and you would still be 4,000 sq miles short.