Well, my friend and I recently did some research on alternative fuel sources, and look what we found! I was amazied that more research had not been done on using biodiesel as a source of fuel. Here are some facts:
• Algae is the fastest growing plant in the world.
•Algae consumes 75% of the CO2 absorbed by plants
• Algae is not food; it will not raise food prices.
• Algae can be grown in conditions that are
unsuitable for other agriculture, such as polluted water or extremely dry climates.
• Algae can produce 15,000 gallons of biodiesel per acre, which is more than one hundred times the amount of other sources of biofuel.
• Algae is carbon neutral, so any carbon that is produced through the burning of algal biodiesel is reabsorbed by the algae being grown.
• Algal biodiesel can be stored wherever petroleum diesel is stored except for cement-lined tanks. This means that algal biodiesel can be sold at almost any gas station.
• One gallon of algal biodiesel has the effective energy value of 1.5 gallons of gasoline.
• Due to the government support of corn ethanol, the price of corn per bushel has risen from $4-$8. This has increased the cost of animal feed, which in turn increased the cost of eggs, milk, beef, turkey and pork.
• Algae can be grown in conditions that are unsuitable for other agriculture, such as polluted water or extremely dry climates. This is a huge contrast from other sources of biofuel such as palm and soy, which cause the destruction of rainforests due to the fact that it cannot be grown in other areas; the increase of palm production is causing the destruction of rainforests in southeast Asia, and the increase in soy production is causing destruction of the Amazon rainforest in Brazil.
• One gallon of algal biodiesel contains about 127,662 kJ of energy, while one gallon of ethanol contains about 79,129 kJ of energy.
• One gallon of algal biodiesel has the effective energy value of 1.5 gallons of gasoline. One gallon of gasoline has the effective energy value of 1.5 gallons of corn ethanol. Therefore, one gallon of algal biodiesel has the effective energy of 2.25 gallons of ethanol.
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