It's a great technology. But what's not great is that there are companies quickly patenting these particular high performance strains of algae so nobody else can use them unless you pay them! Can anybody say "Monsanto"...It's the same old story again!! How can they patent a plant which they did not create? Monsanto did this with Canola seed and caused all kinds of trouble because their strain eventually polluted the natural varieties and they sued innocent farmers out of business.
Great solution to a growing problem. I am not clear what the X prize is or what "game" is being played to win with the given parameters. Also, some of the terms used are a bit over my head.
This should make Archer Daniels Midland a little nervous! Don't even need to bother extracting the oil if you run your engine from a gasifier. Good job, Jonah.
I don't know if anyone else has heard of solar film or solar ink, but it's here and it will make solar power more affordable and more widely used. With solar film, automobiles and homes powered completely or partially by the sun could become more viable.
Check out these videos:
"Solar Printable Ink Yes! Solar Ink"
"Spray-On Solar-Power Cells Are True Breakthrough"
What a great solution for the world's energy problems! I hope this becomes the next X Prize, and after reviewing the other submissions, I'll be voting for this when voting opens.
This is a field that not only needs more support but demands our urgent attention. Im excited to see what happens next for the future of microalgae biofuel!
This is a wonderful idea. The original X Prize resulted in a revolutionary way to get to space. This Green X Prize can create a revolutionary way to get to work. The promise of biofuels has been buried under the politics of agricultural subsidies. We need a new way forward for biofuels that doesn't pollute, destroy habitat or use more energy then it produces. Another possibility for algae biofuels is as a storage medium for intermittent wind and solar power.
I would love to see real work put into this promising idea that is constantly dismissed out of hand by sighting the current challenges.
If someone suggested that we drill miles into the earth's crust to find toxic chemicals, turn them into fertilizer, grow corn, make ethanol, and use it to drive to the store, they would be ridiculed - but that is the current approach to 'biofuel' that seems to be every politician's vision of the future.
It would be nice to see subsidies put into other crops.
Actually, jatropha is currently being cultivated in some parts of the world for biofuel. Supposedly, jatropha yields more biofuel than any other crop. Also, it's not edible which means, unlike corn, it won't drive up food prices. I don't know how it compares to algae, but I've heard it's a high yield crop for biofuels and work is being done at universities to boost its yield ever higher.
non-edible plants still drive up food prices. They compete for the same land.
If we had 10 million square miles total of tilled land, and half of it was planted with the jatropha, you would still cut your food-based corn production in half... you'd just get more fuel than the current (dumb) method of growing corn on all 10 million square miles and turning half of it into fuel.
Your argument would be valid if jatropha was a normal plant, but it's not. Jatropha is a hearty plant that can grow in arid climates where most food crops would never be able to survive. It was originally used by Indians and people in the Middle East to fuel their oil lamps. Check out some videos about jatropha if you're interested.
I'll look into it, but there's still the issue with soil CO2 sequestration. They've found that tilling soil releases literally tons of sequestered CO2, and have argued that changing natural land into tilled cropland creates a "carbon debt" that may take a hundred years or more of biofuels production to offset...
Plus the fertilizers...
That said, it sounds infinitely better than what is out there now.
I'll look into it, but there's still the issue with soil CO2 sequestration. They've found that tilling soil releases literally tons of sequestered CO2, and have argued that changing natural land into tilled cropland creates a "carbon debt" that may take a hundred years or more of biofuels production to offset...
Plus the fertilizers...
That said, it sounds infinitely better than using corn...
Currently the cheapest algae that you can get from a bio-reactor is ~$7/kg. Assuming 50% of that is dirty oil (the other 50% is protein and carbs), that puts the price of the dirty oil at ~$14/kg. Lose 15% from cleaning/refining processes, and now you have $15.5 - $16.5/kg of diesel. That's ~$50/gallon of diesel.
That doesn't work.
Your prize doesn't address making this cost effective. It doesn't matter how much fuel you can produce/acre if it costs $50/gallon.
The point of X-Prize contests is to provide incentives and set goals to change the economics of a new industry. Until real effort is put into a new technology, the issues that drive up cost will not be addressed.
All entries to the original X-Prize lost large amounts of money. However, the efforts of the teams cut untold years off of the development of a new industry and brought credibility to private space ventures.
The point is to spark efforts to address the challenges you named.
I was just pointing out that your judging metric gave no incentive towards attaining the fuel at a lower cost... merely attaining it without waste.
Again, I thought you did a great job, but I wanted to point out what I percieved as an oversight.
I was a large proponent of algae until my father started working on WindFuels (about 3 years ago)... once a possibly cheaper alternative became articulated... I now want to see algae processes line up against other processes head-to-head.
It's a great technology. But what's not great is that there are companies quickly patenting these particular high performance strains of algae so nobody else can use them unless you pay them! Can anybody say "Monsanto"...It's the same old story again!! How can they patent a plant which they did not create? Monsanto did this with Canola seed and caused all kinds of trouble because their strain eventually polluted the natural varieties and they sued innocent farmers out of business.
segarza 3 years ago
Love this idea!
raven1111eaglespirit 3 years ago
Love this idea...thankyou!
raven1111eaglespirit 3 years ago
i dont get it!!!
jwmklove 3 years ago
Outstanding vision!
Balveda 3 years ago
Great solution to a growing problem. I am not clear what the X prize is or what "game" is being played to win with the given parameters. Also, some of the terms used are a bit over my head.
scottmcclure000 3 years ago
What a great idea! Thank's for telling me about this Ben!
bomolucero 3 years ago
What a great idea!! Thank's for telling me about this Ben!
bomolucero 3 years ago
Wow, Jonah! How do we start, if we have five acres??? Can you do sequal on the steps to do it??
fdesignz2 3 years ago
Exciting stuff! Can we grow it on roof tops? As a building veneer?
greenbubba 3 years ago
This should make Archer Daniels Midland a little nervous! Don't even need to bother extracting the oil if you run your engine from a gasifier. Good job, Jonah.
beerstev 3 years ago
Great Idea...what kind of investment is needed to make it a reality?
lomannion 3 years ago
Incredible idea!
tashakko08 3 years ago
This sounds truly amazing! What a difference it would make in our world, our future.
cronehps 3 years ago
I don't know if anyone else has heard of solar film or solar ink, but it's here and it will make solar power more affordable and more widely used. With solar film, automobiles and homes powered completely or partially by the sun could become more viable.
Check out these videos:
"Solar Printable Ink Yes! Solar Ink"
"Spray-On Solar-Power Cells Are True Breakthrough"
"Next Generation of Cheap Solar Cells"
XxShawnRGxX 3 years ago
Sounds great! I think it should be pursued!
donnabadonna 3 years ago
Great summary. That was very informative. Lets make some microalgae fuel and power our future. -Jeremy D.
twenty38e 3 years ago
It's just the future of life as we know it.
Way to go!
19521926 3 years ago
So glad someone is speaking the real truth underlying the use of corn fueled energy:
taking MORE fuel to make fuel. It's a no brainer. Algae sounds like the ticket to get going!
kateintex 3 years ago
What a great solution for the world's energy problems! I hope this becomes the next X Prize, and after reviewing the other submissions, I'll be voting for this when voting opens.
TEPutnam 3 years ago
This is a field that not only needs more support but demands our urgent attention. Im excited to see what happens next for the future of microalgae biofuel!
wabi2sabi 3 years ago
What an awesome idea!!!!
jennimariep 3 years ago
This is an amazing idea. This gives us freedom from our reliance on oil in a way that is sustainable and secure. We have got to do this!
laurenlewisbutcher 3 years ago
This is a wonderful idea. The original X Prize resulted in a revolutionary way to get to space. This Green X Prize can create a revolutionary way to get to work. The promise of biofuels has been buried under the politics of agricultural subsidies. We need a new way forward for biofuels that doesn't pollute, destroy habitat or use more energy then it produces. Another possibility for algae biofuels is as a storage medium for intermittent wind and solar power.
CarpeSimian76 3 years ago
This is just the kind of new idea that we need to be looking
at very carefully. Some of the greatest ideas we have encountered came from things that were right under our nose.
princeparis 3 years ago
I would love to see real work put into this promising idea that is constantly dismissed out of hand by sighting the current challenges.
If someone suggested that we drill miles into the earth's crust to find toxic chemicals, turn them into fertilizer, grow corn, make ethanol, and use it to drive to the store, they would be ridiculed - but that is the current approach to 'biofuel' that seems to be every politician's vision of the future.
It would be nice to see subsidies put into other crops.
butchers23 3 years ago
Actually, jatropha is currently being cultivated in some parts of the world for biofuel. Supposedly, jatropha yields more biofuel than any other crop. Also, it's not edible which means, unlike corn, it won't drive up food prices. I don't know how it compares to algae, but I've heard it's a high yield crop for biofuels and work is being done at universities to boost its yield ever higher.
XxShawnRGxX 3 years ago
non-edible plants still drive up food prices. They compete for the same land.
If we had 10 million square miles total of tilled land, and half of it was planted with the jatropha, you would still cut your food-based corn production in half... you'd just get more fuel than the current (dumb) method of growing corn on all 10 million square miles and turning half of it into fuel.
:)
@butchers23,
algae still requires a huge amount of fertilizer... but it doesn't starve people.
:)
GlennDoty 3 years ago
Your argument would be valid if jatropha was a normal plant, but it's not. Jatropha is a hearty plant that can grow in arid climates where most food crops would never be able to survive. It was originally used by Indians and people in the Middle East to fuel their oil lamps. Check out some videos about jatropha if you're interested.
XxShawnRGxX 3 years ago
I'll look into it, but there's still the issue with soil CO2 sequestration. They've found that tilling soil releases literally tons of sequestered CO2, and have argued that changing natural land into tilled cropland creates a "carbon debt" that may take a hundred years or more of biofuels production to offset...
Plus the fertilizers...
That said, it sounds infinitely better than what is out there now.
GlennDoty 3 years ago
I'll look into it, but there's still the issue with soil CO2 sequestration. They've found that tilling soil releases literally tons of sequestered CO2, and have argued that changing natural land into tilled cropland creates a "carbon debt" that may take a hundred years or more of biofuels production to offset...
Plus the fertilizers...
That said, it sounds infinitely better than using corn...
:)
GlennDoty 3 years ago
Locally Growing our current and future energy needs! I love it. Algae wants to be fuel when it grows up. Let's Eat!
surfacemonkey 3 years ago
Very well made video, btw.
GlennDoty 3 years ago
Currently the cheapest algae that you can get from a bio-reactor is ~$7/kg. Assuming 50% of that is dirty oil (the other 50% is protein and carbs), that puts the price of the dirty oil at ~$14/kg. Lose 15% from cleaning/refining processes, and now you have $15.5 - $16.5/kg of diesel. That's ~$50/gallon of diesel.
That doesn't work.
Your prize doesn't address making this cost effective. It doesn't matter how much fuel you can produce/acre if it costs $50/gallon.
GlennDoty 3 years ago
Exactly!
The point of X-Prize contests is to provide incentives and set goals to change the economics of a new industry. Until real effort is put into a new technology, the issues that drive up cost will not be addressed.
All entries to the original X-Prize lost large amounts of money. However, the efforts of the teams cut untold years off of the development of a new industry and brought credibility to private space ventures.
The point is to spark efforts to address the challenges you named.
butchers23 3 years ago
I was just pointing out that your judging metric gave no incentive towards attaining the fuel at a lower cost... merely attaining it without waste.
Again, I thought you did a great job, but I wanted to point out what I percieved as an oversight.
I was a large proponent of algae until my father started working on WindFuels (about 3 years ago)... once a possibly cheaper alternative became articulated... I now want to see algae processes line up against other processes head-to-head.
:)
GlennDoty 3 years ago
Interesting idea and well made video.
rapidlorim 3 years ago