Green oil--could this be economically produced?
Green Oil: Scientists Turn Algae Into Petroleum In 30 Minutes
Scientists at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory are claiming success in perfecting a method that can transform a pea-soupy solution of algae into crude oil by pressure cooking it for about 30 minutes. The process, called hydrothermal liquefaction, also works on other streams of organic matter, such as municipal sewage. And the crude oil created is lightweight and low in sulfur and can be “dropped in” to refineries that process fossil crudes.
“It’s a bit like using a pressure cooker, only the pressures and temperatures we use are much higher,” said researcher Douglas Elliott in a statement. “In a sense, we are duplicating the process in the Earth that converted algae into oil over the course of millions of years. We’re just doing it much, much faster.”
(snip)
A big criticism of corn ethanol over the years is that the process of growing it requires so much fertilizer, water and other energy inputs that by the time you’ve got it turned into ethanol you’ve lost energy not gained it. If an energy system has a negative net energy balance it is necessarily cannibalizing other energy sources.
This appears to be an inconvenient truth for algae as well. Most methods of cultivating it simply eat more energy than is contained in the algae.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/christopherhelman/2013/12/23/green-oil-scientists-turn-algae-into-petroleum-in-30-minutes/
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