February 27, 2009 at 1:50 pm · Filed under Bio-mass, Carbon Capture, Energy, Environment, Politics
It is likely that the energy to power your car came from the Sun hundreds of millions of years ago and was converted by algae into simple sugars that eventually was pumped out of the ground as crude oil. Is it possible to shorten this cycle into a few weeks or even days and power our economy by cultivating algae today? Many people are betting that we will, as more and more investments are made in algal biofuel companies.
Why the interest in algae? The primary reasons is it grows fast, very fast. In fact, with ample sunlight, CO2 and the right nutrients, algae can double it’s mass in a few hours. And under the right conditions, algae can also be coaxed into producing a large percentage of its mass into fuel rich lipids. With no need to reach toward the sky algae spends little to no energy building the complex cellulosic structures found in land plants. This means a higher percentage of the plant can be converted to fuel. Some companies are focusing on genetically altering fast growing strains to directly produce hydrocarbons, in effect, eliminating the refining step.
Today companies are able to produce biofuel from algae for somewhere between $9 and $36 per gallon. Not barrel, per dollar. Huh? Yes, algal biofuel science still has some work to do. Algae grown in ponds get a free source of energy from the sun, but require a lot of water and the associated energy costs of moving it around and filtering the final product. These open ponds also have to be protected from natural strains which do not produce the desired lipids. Closed bioreactors are great at controlling the environment and preventing contamination, but require a lot of energy either via artificial light or in the case of GreenFuel, sugar.
Algae has advantages in addition to its ability to grow quickly. Acre per acre, algae outperforms any other biofuel source around. Compared to 60 gallons of diesel per acre from soybeans or 600 gallons per acre from oil palms, algae can produce 1850 gallons per acre and some experts are claiming 5,000 gallons per acre is feasible.
Algae also consumes a vast amount of CO2 and produces lots of oxygen. Three quarters of the oxygen in our atmosphere is produce by algae. Experimental sites are often located at coal fired utility plants in order to use the vast amounts of CO2 produces by burning coal to feed the algae. While this certainly does not sequester the CO2, it lowers the total emissions by recycling the CO2 and gaining energy from it twice.
There are forms of algae that grow in lots of types of water that we would find difficulty using for ourselves or our food supplies. This allows algae farms to use water that will not impact scarce water sources. These add up to a crop that can be grown on land not used for food, using water that would not be used for human consumption or food crops and suck up a lot of CO2 in the process. We simply have to find ways to do it more cheaply.
February 27, 2009 at 11:10 am · Filed under Economics, Energy, Environment
Trading activity picks up for carbon financial instruments (CFIs) after the release of President Obama’s budget. Even though the budget does not include revenue from carbon allowances until 2012, future contracts prior to this date moved higher. Some people believe these instruments can be used as early action credits in a federal cap and trade system.
Between 2012 and 2020, nearly $645 billion could be raised from the sale of emission allowances, the budget outline says.
According to Point Carbon (subscription) estimates, that would assume around 80 per cent of the economy would face caps on their greenhouse gas output starting 2012 at 2005 levels, or roughly 7.2 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent.
This means the budget is banking on carbon prices of nearly $13.70 per tonne by 2012.With the cap declining around 2 per cent per year after 2012, Point Carbon estimates the price of carbon in 2020 would go up to $16.5 per allowance.
February 27, 2009 at 7:55 am · Filed under Environment, Politics
So just what is a cap and trade system and how does it work? MSNBC has a Frequently Asked Questions page that answers this question. While President Obama signaled his desires in his budget, congress is required to pass the legislation and the details. Many experts are suggesting legislation is unlikely this, however “Powerful Democrats such as House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., have said they would work hard to get legislation passed by this summer.”
February 26, 2009 at 4:03 pm · Filed under Economics, Energy, Environment, Politics
Earlier this week, the White House stated a climate bill passed in 2010 would be fine as long as it included the critical components President Obama included in his campaign promises. This is consistent with President Obama’s budget which includes revenue for carbon cap and trade allowances of $658 billion in total for the years 2012 through 2019. $150 billion of this will be committed to invest in clean energy along with tax credits.
February 3, 2009 at 4:05 pm · Filed under Energy, Environment, Politics
2008 was a bumper year for wind energy investment. The US added 8,300 megawatts (MW) of wind energy to lead the world with 25,170 MW. 42% of the country’s new power-producing capacity came from wind. The 50% increase in wind power generation also created 35,000 jobs bringing the total employee bast to 85,000.
Worldwide over 27 gigawatts (GW) of wind capacity was added. China doubled capacity to 12.2 GW and is on tract to double capacity again in 2009 and may reach its goal of 30 (GW) by 2010, ten years ahead of plan. All of Asia added about 8.3 GW with Europe and North America adding 8.9 GW each.
In the US, the financial crisis hit the wind industry and orders for turbines and components has slowed to a trickle. This needs to be reversed quickly if the US is to stay ahead of schedule to reach 300 GW of wind capacity, or 20% of our electricity needs, by 2030.