Algae biofuel companies are up in arms this week over a new study that cast serious doubts about the environmental benefits of what many had seen as a promising technology.
Yes, there are plenty of advantages to algae over other biofuel source-crops: it generates more power than other commonly used plants, and because it grows in water instead of soil it doesn’t compete with farmland that can be used for food.
But the report, published in the journal Environmental Science and Technology, focuses on other factors. The main problem isn’t the algae, it’s the fertilizer needed to grow it. More specifically, it’s the energy used producing fertilizer and the carbon dioxide emitted by the trucks that haul it to the ponds where algae is raised.
While producing biofuels from crops such as corn and canola can ultimately cut down on carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, the report concluded that the algae production could actually increase greenhouse gases.
This is an important point – everything is connected. Even if algae delivers more energy than fuels from other sources, it’s not necessarily a gain if the entire process, start to finish, is less efficient than other source crops.
But don’t rule out algae just because of this report. It’s still a promising concept, and it’s hard to imagine that smart people can’t develop new manufacturing processes that are more efficient than what we’re using now.
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