The price of oil per gallon has hit new all-time highs, yet consumers haven’t seen that high cost reflected at the fuel pumps. I have a theory that the price of gas will increase dramatically before the Thanksgiving holiday season and that they’ll stay inflated throughout the winter holiday season.
Since folks usually support the idea of alternative fuel possibilities when gas prices are high, I’ll put a pitch in for seaweed so you can think about this ‘green fuel’ the next time you fill your gas tank.
While corn is proving to be one of the cheapest fuel alternatives and it’s already commercially available, seaweed can replace corn and - unlike corn - it won’t undermine global food sources.
The seaweed pools, pictured above, are filled with Mediterranean seaweed in small concentrations. Carbon dioxide allows it to grow in the pools at a concentration of one million times greater. The carbon dioxide is gathered from nearby power plants and the gas is passed through a filtration process and then enters the pools where it feeds the microscopic seaweed. The use of carbon dioxide reduces the cost of production radically, to about 50 cents per kilo of seaweed. Plus, this process reduces the amount of carbon dioxide that power plants push into the atmosphere.
Finally - according to the scientists who developed this technology - it is possible to produce a liter of fuel for every five kilograms of seaweed.
The technology was developed in the experimental farm set up by Seambiotic Ltd. three years ago in the compound of the Ashkelon power plant, with the support of the Israel Electric Corporation.
Ironically, a proposal has been made to add coal-fired units to the Ashkelon power station in 2008 to “meet increased electricity demand.” Thankfully, the Ministry of the Environment and non-governmental environmental organizations are meeting this proposal with stiff opposition.
Posted by ewoman at 8:00 AM PDT
